Dubai: Two businessmen have been accused of confining their partner in a villa where they assaulted him and threatened to kill him over a Dh100,000 commission for organising a multicultural festival.
The businessmen, O.A., Swedish, and G.C., an American, were said to have agreed with the Pakistani partner to organise a multicultural festival for the international community in Dubai in January.
Then the duo lured the partner to O.A.’s villa in Jumeirah where they tied him up.
According to records, the suspects repeatedly assaulted him and threatened to kill him and his pregnant wife and chop their bodies if he did not pay them what they claimed to be their Dh100,000 commission.
Prosecutors accused O.A. and G.C. of confining the partner, assaulting him and threatening to kill him and his family.
However the Swedish and American defendants strongly refuted their accusations and pleaded not guilty when they defended themselves before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
Their defence lawyers asked presiding judge Ezzat Mansour to adjourn the hearing to hear prosecution witnesses when the court reconvenes on December 21.
According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the suspects tricked their partner and convinced him to go to the villa where they used physical violence and verbal threats to coerce him to give them money.
Prosecutors said two other suspects [including a woman] participated in the alleged crime but they remain at large.
The partner testified to prosecutors that the incident happened after he had agreed with the defendants to organise the festival.
“O.A. called and asked me to go to his villa with a laptop because his device was not functioning. G.C. and another man, named Z., were present when I reached. While we were discussing the festival, O.A. asked for my phone and laptop … he handed them to G.C. We had agreed earlier to look for someone to fund the event for Dh800,000. O.A. asked me about his commission, and when I questioned him, he punched me. G.C. immediately sat on my back and pinned me to the floor after I fell down. They threatened to chop my fingers with an axe … they claimed that they wanted me to pay them their commission. I told them I had not got any money from funders. Then I managed to break free and ran out of their villa and hid in a nearby petrol station’s washroom. I locked myself inside after I asked one the attendants to call the police.
“The suspects tracked me down and they came to the washroom and promised not to harm me on condition that we return to the villa to discuss the festival peacefully. I trusted them and went with them … a Kazakh businesswoman [who is at large] was also present. We went back to the villa. They assaulted me again. They tied me up and phoned my wife and threatened to kill me if she did not bring them money. After she came, they threatened to kill her and her unborn child while I was locked up inside. I only managed to pay them Dh6,000 and my relatives gave them a Dh75,000 cheque,” he claimed to prosecutors.
Records said the partner notified the police about what had happened when he went to the hospital to treat his injuries.
The trial continues.
