Man tasered, beaten during jewelry theft in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: An Emirati woman fell victim to fraud and her brother was assaulted after she placed an online advertisement to sell diamonds and gold jewellery worth Dh70,0000 last month, authorities said.

Posing as buyers, two Arab male suspects, A.A., 21, and M.S., 31, reportedly used an electric taser to immobilise and beat the woman’s 19 year-old brother before stealing away with the jewellery.

The victim’s brother had agreed to meet the ‘buyer’ at a school in the capital. The offender supposedly called his partner to the spot after validating the ornaments’ authenticity.

The second man then joined his compatriot in tasering and beating up the victim’s brother, and running away with the valuables, police said.

The men also provided the seller with false information when she requested their names and National ID numbers to be included in the receipt.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Head, Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Borshid, said: “The woman’s brother was joined by his friend who witnessed the incident and called the police, and the suspects were shortly apprehended and later confessed to their crime.” The jewellery was recovered from the suspects who are believed to be unemployed.

Lieutenant Colonel Taher Al Dhaheri, head of Organised Crime in the CID, warned against unsupervised online trade as it can cause individuals to fall victim to fraudsters and professional scammers.

He also advised members of the public to refrain from taking risks and trusting strangers during such transactions.

“Even though some online shopping websites receive positive feedback from their customers, some are used for false trading and making illegal cash,” Al Dhaheri said.

The official said that when involved in such scams, people must quickly inform the authorities.

Earlier this year, a woman attempted to rob an Abu Dhabi money exchange store using a toy gun. She was an illegal resident who needed the money to pay off debts.