Dubai: Three men have been accused of attacking an elderly visitor and robbing his bag containing Dh128,000, a laptop and a smartphone.

The Kenyan suspects, E.K., M.M. and B.N., were said to have attacked the 69-year-old Canadian visitor while he was entering a hotel when they blocked his way, pulled him to a corner and pretended that they wanted to make a call before robbing him in May.

The three defendants pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the defendants stole the bag that contained money, a laptop worth Dh6,700 and a mobile phone.

Records said the trio prevented the visitor from entering the hotel in Naif area and pulled him to a street corner where they pushed him and stole his bag.

“I did not steal anything … I helped the man take back his bag,” E.K. told presiding judge Mohammad Jamal in court.

M.M. and B.N. admitted that they took the bag but denied stealing any money.

“What was in the bag then?” presiding judge asked them.

“We took the bag but it contained books … there was no money or laptop,” replied M.M.

The Canadian testified to prosecutors that the incident happened when he visited Dubai to set up a company.

“A Malaysian friend of mine told me that there is a group of African men who trade in gold in the UAE. I arranged to hold a business meeting with them in the hotel. Two African men showed up at the meeting at the hotel and they claimed to me that they would provide me with an amount of gold plates to sell … I told them that I would not take the gold plates and sell them without obtaining official certification that those plates are authentic. Then one of those men tried to take away my laptop but I took it back … then I asked the hotel security to throw them out. They tried to call me later, but I did not answer their calls. A few days later, the suspects stopped me outside the hotel when I was coming back from dinner. They claimed that they wanted me to make a call before they pushed me to the ground, took away the bag and ran away,” claimed the visitor.

Records said the Canadian reported the matter to the police.

A police lieutenant testified that the suspects were arrested shortly after the incident.

The trial continues.