Sharjah: A gang of eight men have been arrested in Sharjah for selling fake gold coins, police said on Saturday.
The Asian men were arrested after police received complaints from their victims. A sting operation was then carried out to catch the suspects.
Brigadier Ebrahim Al Ajel, Director of the Criminal and Investigation Department at Sharjah Police, said the suspects cheated their victims by showing them a gold coin.
Later they sold a packet of fake gold coins to their victims.
The incident came to light when one of their victims found out that the coins were fake. He then reported the incident to the police.
The first report stated that a Gulf national had been exposed to fraud by three Asian men, who had met him in one of the industrial areas in Sharjah. They offered him a gold coin and after checking that the coin was real after showing it to a specialised store selling gold, he agreed to buy a set of coins from them,
The suspects usually asked the victims to meet them in an industrial area in order to hand over the packet of coins, which the victims later discovered were pieces of metal painted gold.
Police formed a team to track down the suspects and arrest them in a sting operation.
Police were able to arrest members of the gang, despite the lack of any concrete evidence to prove their identity.
At the time of the arrest police found two boxes filled with fake coins in the vehicle of one of the suspects who led police to his partners.
The suspects told police that they intended to sell it.
The suspects confessed to their crimes and have been referred to public prosecution.
Brigadier Al Ajel warned members of the community against falling victim to fraudsters, and told them to refrain from buying gold or jewellery from unknown and unauthorised sources.
He advised residents not to buy gold without an invoice for their purchase and urged community members to cooperate with the security agencies and report any suspicious activities on 999 or 06-5632222 or the toll-free number Najeed 800 151 or via SMS on 7999 or www.shjpolice.gov.ae/najeed
