DUBAI: What could Panadol tablets, adhesives, Sony projectors, weighing scales, foam cups, caustic soda and garbage bags have in common?
Nothing except that all these items, worth millions, have been stolen in the umpteenth trading scam to have hit the UAE this year.
Using the same methods which they have employed in the past, conmen set up a website and a fancy office in Dubai before approaching business establishments for trade enquiries - this time on behalf of their firm Marine Bunker Shipping LLC.
Like always, they made the first few purchases in cash. Once they gained the trust of traders, Marine Bunker’s sweet-talking sales managers, including women, made bulk purchases against post-dated cheques. Each one of these cheques would turn out to be dud. By the time panic-stricken suppliers rushed to the company’s office in Platinum Business Centre, Al Nahda, all their 30-odd staffers had disappeared after switching off their phones. A visit to Marine Bunker’s Al Ghusais godown also drew a blank.
Meticulous planning
“It’s obvious they had planned this meticulously. We’ve filed a police complaint,” said the staff at a firm which delivered over 100 cartons of Panadol tablets worth nearly Dh300,000. Whoever steals paracetamols?” he asked.
Dubai-businessman Atif Khan, who supplied Sony projectors and foam cups worth around Dh70,000, said he’s in shock. “There was nothing about those well-heeled men that would suggest they were fraudsters,” said the 35-year-old Pakistani who owns a shop in Deira.
Similarly, Abid Ali, owner of Ajman-based City Scales, said he didn’t suspect anything when he sold them scores of weighing scales against post-dated cheques totalling Dh56,000.
“They had a trade licence, decent office, healthy bank statements and audit report,” he said.
Another Ajman company, Winplast Trading, which supplied caustic soda and adhesives pegged its losses at Dh153,000.
Investigations by XPRESS reveal that the masterminds behind Marine Bunkers are the same UAE based serial swindlers who have pulled out several trading scams.
Pakistani E.P.J., 47, and Bangladeshi S.H.B. 42, (name withheld for legal reasons) who lead a close-knit gang of 20 have fronted many runaway firms in the past. These include Explore Fareast Marina (Dh30 million, 2016), Black Star Electronics (Dh20 million, 2017) Alpha Impex (2015), Steelite Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (Dh5 million, 2014), SunLink Marine (Dh6 million, 2013) and Crystal City Building Material (Dh3 million, 2012).
The duo haven’t been caught as they never put their names on the documents of firms they help set up. Instead they choose dummies who are flown out of the country before the scam comes to light. All stolen goods are then sold to third parties for cash at reduced rates.
Besides the one run by E.P.J. and S.H.B. there are least two more gangs who specialise in such scams which have struck the UAE around 200 times since 2015, wiping out over Dh1 billion from the market.
