Dubai: It’s a case of too close and yet so far for scores of businessmen who have lost millions of dirhams in the latest trading scam – the 20th in the UAE this year.
After days of suspense, drama and all-night vigils, the traders tracked down their goods to two warehouses in Dubai Maritime City (DMC) and Al Jadaf last week. But their joy was short-lived and any hope of recovering the items quickly dashed when a court rejected an application to stop the goods from being shipped out of the country because of ‘lack of proper documentation’.
Bounced cheques
The stolen items, which included solar panels, LED lights, construction material, electrical coils and cables, food stuff etc. were moved to the two warehouses from the Ajman and Al Qusais godowns of Explore Fareast Marine – the dubious company that downed shutters of their Bur Dubai office and disappeared overnight leaving a trail of wrecked lives and bounced cheques to the tune of over Dh10 million earlier this month.
“The owner of the warehouses claims he bought the goods from a third party and has nothing to do with Explore Marine. But it’s our goods that are lying in his warehouses and there is nothing we can do about it,” said a dejected trader who supplied safety equipment worth nearly Dh90,000.
“Some of the goods including solar panels worth Dh1.2 million are barcoded and can be checked,” said another victim.
