Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Police have arrested a man for allegedly trying to swindle women artists by making them believe he was the owner of a local media and promotion company.
Colonel Hamad Ahmad Al Hamadi, Director of Abu Dhabi Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said police arrested a 37-year-old European man who claimed he ran a media and promotion company to make women singers and musicians believe that he could arrange for them to give concerts in the UAE.
Col Al Hamadi said police received information from confidential sources that the suspect, who entered the country illegally, used a fake name and claimed his company was one of the leading media promotion companies.
Police set up a task force to follow up the case and trace the suspect, who was arrested only two hours after the complaint was filed against him.
Police arrested him while he was visiting a pest control firm in the capital, and found a forged cheque worth $3.25 million (Dh11.93 million) credited to a foreign bank.
Cheque
Investigations revealed that the suspect concluded a deal with a famous Arab singer who was recently in the country, and the cheque, which was not signed yet was supposed to be handed over to the renowned singer who signed a deal with him to give a concert in the country.
Col Al Hamadi said that in addition to the charges of swindling and conning artists, there were two other complaints against the suspect, the first of which was filed by an Asian office boy who said that the suspect promised him he would issue a visit visa for his European home country for Dh1,250.
The Asian man said he gave the suspect the amount and the required official documents but he did not keep his word.
Another complaint was filed against the suspect by an Asian man who works as a housekeeper in a pastry shop. The housekeeper gave the suspect Dh1,000 cash for a visit visa to the European country. When the European suspect failed to get the visit visa issued, the Asian man succeeded in recovering the money and his passport after numerous attempts.
Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, Head of the Organised Crime Unit at CID, said the police proved that the company which the suspect claimed to own was bogus, and called "P Media".
Impersonation
Police also found that the suspect impersonated a European personality identified as PJO so as to con his victims.
The suspect was also found to have been bouncing cheques in bad faith using his real name.
Under the federal penal code, anyone found guilty of committing the crime of swindling shall be punished by imprisonment or a fine or both.
Suspect: Project confidential
Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, Head of the Organised Crime Unit at CID, said that a 30-year-old South African musician said during police investigations that she had met the suspect three months ago after he introduced himself as a TV and cinema film-maker. She told police that the suspect asked her to train the famous Arab singer how to sing in English, and signed a nine-month contract worth $75,000, in addition to a monthly incentive bonus of $10,000.
During interrogations, the suspect claimed that he wanted to strike a $6.5 million deal with the Arab singer, but a confidential deal was signed between him and the singer because neither wanted to disclose the details of the artistic project until completion.
