UAE | Crime
Onyx stone dealer jailed after court rejects test plea
An expatriate, who tried to sell an allegedly bullet-proof onyx stone for Dh1.8 billion, has been sentenced to six months in jail on Monday.
- By Bassam Zaza, Senior Reporter
- Published: 10:33 March 3, 2008
Dubai: A court has rejected a plea from a suspect for permission to test his bulletproof onyx stone, which he tried to sell for Dh1.8 billion, and has jailed him.
The Dubai Court of Misdemeanour sentenced the 52-year-old Yemeni precious stones expert, Q.M., to six months in jail. He will be deported after serving his sentence.
The Public Prosecution charged the accused with attempted swindling and trying to con people by posting a newspaper advertisement in which he promoted the bulletproof onyx stone for Dh1.8 billion.
His lawyer Saeed Al Ghailani, of Saeed Al Ghailani Advocates and Legal Consultants, is expected to appeal the verdict soon.
Lawyer's argument
"My client is ready to put on the onyx stone and be shot at to prove his claims that anyone who wears this stone stays alive as he/she becomes bullet-proof. He is also willing to serve a life term if the trial fails," Al Ghailani told the court in his defence.
"Q.M. is innocent... he didn't even attempt to con or swindle anyone because when he promoted the onyx, he suggested that the interested customer could deposit the money with the police and wait for onyx's trial to prove whether is it bullet-proof or not," argued the lawyer.
The accused, whose bail request was rejected earlier, said: "I had a stall at Global Village where I displayed precious stones, including the onyx. I asked the police to try the stone before confiscating it and arresting me. They refused. I brought it with me from Yemen."
The court rejected to comply with his request to try the stone on him and incriminated him.
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