Gang on trial for trying to sell Dh11 million Dubai property that wasn’t theirs

Dubai: A gang of four are on trial in Dubai accused of forging official documents to scam a property developer into selling land worth Dh11 million.

A legal department employee at the property developer discovered the scam when a 42-year-old Indian businessman presented to him a request to sell the property which was owned by the Indian defendant and his partner.

The defendant presented an authorisation letter issued from Egypt that gave power to an Egyptian defendant to take actions on behalf of the second businessman.

The employee suspected the authorisation letter when it was presented to him on October 2019.

“I told him that the letter should have more updates. He took my mobile phone and left but after 30 minutes I received a call from the first defendant that the victim [second businessman] is staying in Egypt and can’t come to finish the procedure because he needs to stay with his wife who suffering cancer,” the 38-year-old Egyptian employee at the developer said in official records.

On November 2019, the defendants updated the authorisation letter and presented it to the Egyptian employee to approve it but he contacted his friend in Egypt to verify the letter.

“My friend who works as a lawyer checked the government department that issued the letter and he confirmed to me it is a forged document.”

The employee kept delaying the defendant’s request to allow the Indian businessman to sell the property and alerted Dubai Police.

Dubai Police set a trap and arrested the two defendants.

A third defendant was arrested over forging the documents for the benefit of the Indian businessman.

A fourth defendant from Palestine is still at large over criminal abetting charges.

The defendants stand on trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance are facing multiple charges for their attempt to obtain the value of the property worth Dh11 million.

The trial has been adjourned until July 22.