UAE | Crime

Man cheats elderly couple with dud cheque for Mercedes

Man cheats elderly couple with a Dh125,000 dud cheque for their 2007 Mercedes Elegance

  • By Sharmila Dhal, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 August 26, 2010
  • XPRESS

In despair:
  • Image Credit: Xpress /Virendra Saklani
  • J.F., left, and M.F. have lodged a case against the man who drove away with their car

Dubai: An elderly Indian couple preparing to return to their home country after 42 years in the UAE were allegedly duped by an Emirati man who drove away with their Mercedes car after issuing them a dud cheque.

The couple, J.F. and M.F., 75 and 69 respectively, said that on August 9, A. M. F. S., an Emirati, responded to their advertisement in a newspaper for the sale of their Mercedes E280 Elegance (2007 model) and insisted on buying the car the same day as he wished to present it to his daughter who was joining a computer course at the American University in Dubai.

J.F., a businessman living in Karama, said he and his wife agreed to meet him at the Bur Dubai Traffic Department on Shaikh Zayed Road at 7pm. However, when they landed there, the Emirati did not show up. "When we called him, he told us he had met with an accident and that we could meet the next day."

Accordingly, the couple met him at the traffic office at Al Jafliya on August 10. A. M. F. S. insisted on doing all the paperwork on the grounds that they were "elderly". "He asked us to sit down and would not allow us to do anything as he went about getting the car passed, doing the Arabic paperwork for the car transfer and getting an export number plate," said J.F..

"The fact that he was getting an export number plate though he had told us that the car was for his daughter in Dubai, didn't strike us that something might be wrong," said M.F.. Once the formalities were over, A. M. F. S. handed over a cheque for Dh125,000.

He also produced a receipt in the name of a company he claimed to own and asked J.F. to sign on it. However, J.F. said he did not give them a copy of the car transfer papers, saying that he was in a hurry and that he would fax it to them in the evening. But J.F. said he did not get any fax. And when he went to the bank to encash the cheque on August 11, it bounced as the issuer had "insufficient funds". There was also a disparity in the words and figure written on the cheque.

J.F. said the man is absconding ever since. None of the many telephone numbers he had given them were responding, he said.

They filed a complaint with the Bur Dubai Police Station who told them that the Emirati had nine similar cases against him. "We are helpless and the car was the only asset we were left with," said J.F.

Comments (4)

  1. Added 00:21 August 27, 2010

    I am not surprised that the police can do nothing to apprehend the Emirati man who conned this poor couple!

    Anonymous, London, United Kingdom

  2. Added 18:25 August 26, 2010

    If the police said the local man has seven similar cases against him, then why was he not caught while transferring the car to his name? How could he get away with this?

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 17:56 August 26, 2010

    The same thing happened with me in November 2009. I had a 2009 Special Edition Mini Cooper S for which I received a dud cheque. It was an Emirati who bought my car and gave me a Dubai Bank cheque. I opened a case with the police but nothing has been done, but I'm not surprised. If the police have seven cases against the guy, why don't they catch him? I offered the police to identify the person who came with me to the registration place (Tasjeel). I even asked the police to come with me to check the security cameras at Ibn Battuta where I met the Emirati, but the police didn't bother. It was me who went and closed this con man’s Dubai Bank account. It was me who went to Ibn Batuta to check the security tapes only to know that the day I made the deal, the cameras at Ibn Batuta were not working. It was me who ran up and down and wrote letters in Arabic. It took me three to four days to finally get a case logged with the Jebel Ali Police. It was me who offered to help them catch the person but again, the police did nothing! It’s sad to see that the city I loved as a kid is now filled with scams!

    A.M., Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 16:16 August 26, 2010

    The best gift for the elderly this Ramadan is to punish this so-called cheater. Astonishingly, he has nine cases against him and he is still able to do another deal with the government! I hope the cops give the elderly a very good Eid present and may God be with them so that they can return to their home country with their own hard earned money.

    E.J.C., Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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