Dubai: Two men were handed different jail terms for conning a merchant and ripping him of Dh7 million after rushing him to buy 50 cars using forged papers and documents.

A 37-year-old Syrian businessman and a 43-year-old Jordanian mechanic had claimed to the Saudi merchant that there were 50 sport utility vehicles belonging to Yemeni owners, who wanted to sell the cars at prices cheaper than what were prevalent in the market in July 2015.

The Syrian and Jordanian told the Saudi that the cars were parked in a showroom in Al Aweer and that the Yemenis wanted to sell them for cheap because they were unable to export them to Yemen due to the instability over there.

The Saudi merchant asked his countryman friend, who resides in the UAE, to check the cars before the latter communicated with one of the two men and examined the vehicles.

The merchant visited Dubai three times and made three payments totalling Dh7 million shortly after he had signed an agreement with the two men.

While the two parties were in the process of carrying out the business deal, the Syrian businessman signed a guarantee cheque of Dh3 million to the Saudi.

When the duo failed to hand over the cars and prepare the required papers to have them exported, the Saudi man complained to the police claiming that he had been deceived and swindled.

On Tuesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the duo of forging papers and documents to prove that they had a power of attorney to sell the cars and swindled the Saudi’s Dh7 million.

The Syrian defendant was convicted of forging the signature on the guarantee cheque and forging the sales agreement and encashment receipts.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal sentenced the two defendants to five years in jail but said the Syrian’s jail sentence will be reduced to two years. The reasons for doing so to remained undisclosed.

The Jordanian convict will serve five years.

The two defendants, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported following the completion of their jail terms.

The victim said he visited Dubai three times and signed the agreement to buy the cars with the duo in an office in Deira.

“When I visited Dubai for the first time to examine the cars, I realised that the name of the showroom where the SUVs were parked was the family name of one of the defendants. I made three payments within a few days … and in return, the Syrian defendant gave me three receipts. He handed me a cheque worth Dh3 million as a guarantee. When they failed to provide me with the proper papers to export the cars, I complained to the police. Police also asked me to present the security cheque at the bank, and when I did, it bounced as expected,” the Saudi said.

His countryman friend testified: “When I asked the duo why they wanted to sell the cars for cheaper prices, they told me because the Yemeni owners were not able to export them to Yemen due to the war there.”

Tuesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.