Dubai: A gang of seven men was sentenced to three years in jail for kidnapping two men and stealing more than Dh3 million from them after two defendants posed as police officers, a Dubai Court of First Instance ruled.
The 39-year-old Emirati and 38-year-old Syrian defendants posed as police officers and allegedly approached the victims with the help of other five men — an Afghani and four Pakistani men — who were subsequently charged with aiding and abetting the crime.
In January 2019, the duo, in their four-wheel drive posing as policemen, stopped the victims at Naif area.
“They claimed that there was a case against us at Bani Yas police station in Abu Dhabi. They said that there is an investigation going on into the source of our money,” said the Pakistani victim in official records.
The two were taken to an area in Jebel Ali where the accused took their money, a total of Dh3.5 million, and told them it would be seized because it was part of an ongoing police case.
After being allowed to leave, the victims headed to the police station in Abu Dhabi and were told there was no case against them following which they reported the incident to the police.
The two offenders were caught and charged with impersonating officers, theft and kidnap. The Syrian accused was additionally sentenced to six months in jail for resisting arrest.
The pair told the police about their five accomplices who informed them about two victims possessing large amounts of money.
However, the police were able to recover only Dh500,000 from the stolen amount. The non-Emirati defendants will be deported after serving their jail time.
The verdict can be appealed within 15 days.
