Sharjah: Sharjah Police have arrested two African men in connection with a case where two Asians were duped into parting with their money in the belief that it would be doubled.
A massive hunt is still underway for the maion suspect who fled the country. The Criminal Investigation Department at Sharjah Police General Command managed to recover part of the money lost by the two Asians.
The victims had filed a complaint with the Sharjah Public Prosecution stating that they were defrauded after receiving an e-mail from an African person identified as AB stating that he was coming down from a European country to invest in real estate in the UAE. One of the complainants hosted him at his home in the presence of the second victim and another person of African nationality.
AB is said to have told the complainant that he could double his money with a locally available magic material that could convert white paper into currency. He said any amount of money could be multiplied by purchasing the expensive magic material. Convinced, the two Asians handed over Dh300,000 to the suspects.
The third suspect, the so-called seller of the magic material, was based in another emirate. When the police traced him and interrogated him, he confessed to his ties with AB and said he had handed him Dh286,000 with instructions to tranfer the money to his home country.
He also told the police that AB had left the UAE after the amount had been transferred.
The police managed to locate the second suspect who confessed to his crime.
Fake banknotes, some materials, powders and Dh40,000 in cash were also seized.
Brigadier Ebrahim Al Ajel, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department at Sharjah Police, said many people had fallen victim to the money doubling scam and warned community members not to fall prey to them.
Meanwhile, one of the victims, an Indian expat based in Sharjah, posted a tweet thanking Sharjah Police for their prompt action.
He said in his tweet: “I highly apperciate Sharjah Police’s support for being in constant contact with me about updates through their vast network...The case was so complicated but they solved it so smartly. All my belongings are now fully recovered. I love UAE & have no words to thank them for what they have done for me...”
