Dubai: A Jordanian man went on trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance after he was accused of illegally obtaining Dh195,000 from a woman after promising to marry her.
The 29-year-old Jordanian woman met the defendant in Dubai while she was looking on Facebook for an apartment to rent. He claimed he was an engineer at Emirates airline and would marry her.
Records show that she sent money to him between September and November 2018 as he said he had financial problems.
In January 2019, she reported him to Jebel Ali police station when he threatened to defame her with private pictures taken from her phone.
Dubai Police arrested the defendant and discovered that he had conned many women, including a Brazilian, with the same modus operandi.
The woman testified: “He saw my request on Facebook that I was searching for an apartment and I met him in Dubai. I told him that I’m single and was looking for an apartment to bring my parents to live with me. He called my father and made a proposal to marry me.”
She met him later at a shopping mall in Sharjah where he showed her a picture of his bank account, which had Dh206,000.
He booked a hotel room for her at Al Barsha area and bought her a phone.
“I thought he would marry me but later discovered that he stole my credit card and booked a ticket for me to go to Jordan where he was to come to meet my family and officially propose to me,” added the victim.
However, the defendant claimed he had to go to Saudi Arabia for work. He later claimed that he ran over someone and needed money to get him treated in hospital.
“I borrowed Dh14,000 from my father and sent it to him. He promised he would come to Jordan within two days. Later, he asked for Dh6,000 more because his passport was stuck in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
On September 16, 2018, he claimed he was stuck at the airport in Jordan and needed Dh7,500.
The woman kept sending him the money and even sold her car as he told her that he was in jail in Jordan due to accumulated fines.
The defendant fabricated different stories and she kept sending him money until November when she refused to pay him more.
“He called me and threatened to defame me with my personal pictures. I informed my father who advised me to report him to the police.”
The 29-year-old defendant was charged with issuing threats, stealing a credit card and illegally obtaining Dh195,000.
He failed to show up in the courtroom on Wednesday. The trial has been posted to September 25.
