Dubai: A salesman and his wife have been jailed for two years each for swindling a female student and using forged documents and a forged cheque to buy her sports utility vehicle (SUV).

The 23-year-old Libyan student posted her car’s photo and contact details on Dubizzle and advertised her vehicle for sale for Dh35,000.

The Egyptian salesman, M.E., phoned the student and requested to meet her and check the SUV.

After showing interest in buying the car, M.E. and his wife, M.S., met the student at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) branch in Al Barsha where they finalised the required paperwork and purchased the car against a cheque for Dh32,000.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Egyptian couple of cheating the student and forging papers which they used.

Records said when the Libyan discovered that the bank account was closed and she could not cash the cheque, she reported the matter to the police.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the defendants will be deported following the completion of their jail terms.

Prosecutors had accused the husband and his wife of hoodwinking the student and misappropriating her vehicle using forged RTA documents and a forged cheque.

The wife [M.S.], who remains at large, was sentenced in absentia.

M.E. firmly refuted the accusations of forgery and swindling.

Court records said M.E. posed [on paper] as someone named T.H. and forged the latter’s signature on RTA papers so he could transfer the ownership of the car to himself. The defendants forged the cheque that they used to buy the car.

The student testified that the salesman identified himself only as M. when he contacted her, wanting to buy the SUV in March.

“He was in a rush. I met him and the woman whom he claimed to be his wife [M.S.] at Jumeirah where they examined the car. He took a copy of the car registration and my driving licence on his mobile phone to use the next day while finishing the deal. The next day his wife came and spoke to me a lot and quickly. I think she was distracting me and rushing me to sign the ownership transfer papers that I did not pay attention that the name [T.H.] was written on the RTA papers. When I realised that the bank account was closed, I contacted M.E., who denied having dealt with me,” the student claimed.

The husband was arrested in a sting operation.

Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal.