Trio jailed for extorting Dh1.7m from businessman

Dubai: Three men — including two policemen, have been jailed for three years each for posing as CID officers and forcing a man who was allegedly running a bootlegging business to pay them Dh1.7 million.

The trio, a police lieutenant, H.K., an inspector, S.J. and a Pakistani worker N.A., posed as CID officers and extracted the money from the Nepalese businessman, K.B., and also attempted take a further Dh3 million from him.

The Dubai Court of First Instance also ordered that the lieutenant and the inspector be dismissed from their jobs.

Presiding judge Ala’a Al Deen Fouad said N.A. will be deported following the completion of his jail term.

Court records said the trio stormed into K.B.’s garage claiming to be CID officers, and then locked up one of his supervisors to force him to pay them the money.

They were arrested in a sting operation.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said the trio and two other suspects (who remain at large) handcuffed the Indian supervisor, A.B. and kept him inside a vehicle, which they parked in front of Dubai Police’s headquarter, as they forced K.B. to pay them the money in June 2013.

K.B. said the defendants, in the presence of workers, called him a bootlegger.

He said the defendants kidnapped A.B. to pressure him into giving him the cash.

Records said the claimant was forced to pay the defendants up to Dh1.7 million before his friends advised him to tell the police.

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