Dubai
A man has been accused of threatening to kill his partner by sending text messages demanding that he stop communications regarding their business partnership.
Prosecutors said the 23-year-old Syrian man, Z.M., demanded that his British partner, H.H., stop discussing his stake in their partnership otherwise he, and his children, would be killed.
The Briton claims to have received text messages in which he was told to “keep silent and stop texting or calling Z.M. or mentioning anything concerning your share in the business partnership”, according to prosecution records.
Z.M.’s mother approached the judges’ bench at the Dubai Court of First Instance and informed the presiding judge that her son is imprisoned in Sharjah over swindling allegations against the Briton in a separate criminal case.
“My son could not appear in courtroom today because he is still imprisoned. He has been pardoned and would be released soon after he served his punishment. I will produce the pardon to the court in the next hearing,” the mother told the presiding judge.
According to the charges, prosecutors said Z.M. threatened to kill H.H. by sending texts to his mobile phone. One of the threatening texts read “I will kill you and your children”.
The Briton, who runs a car rental shop, claimed that the incident happened shortly after he met Z.M. in March 2012.
“He returned a car that he had rented from my shop, he visited me several times and convinced me that his father is a well-off businessman. He talked me into becoming his business partner. We had a business agreement to trade in diesel, he claimed that his father’s Pakistani partner would provide us with the diesel. Afterwards I discovered that the Pakistani man and Z.M. conned me and took my share.
“I complained against them in Sharjah. Ten days later I received an SMS in which the sender threatened to kill my children. An SMS read ‘if Z.M. is harmed or anything bad happened to him, you better keep your mouth shut because we know where your children live and where they go to school’. Later I discovered that the Syrian was arrested in Sharjah and jailed for six months to be followed by deportation,” H.H. claimed.
Prosecution records said the Briton complained against Z.M. for threatening to kill him. He also lodged a civil lawsuit to claim his share in the partnership. Records said the claimant sent his wife and children back to their homeland for their own safety. The presiding judge adjourned the case until Sunday for the mother to produce the pardon papers.
