Fish dealer failed to smell anything fishy in dollar note cleaning swindle

An Emirati fish dealer was duped by three people who claimed they needed money to buy a liquid that could clean blackened dollar currency notes and make them usable again.

However, the victim of the fraud learnt that they are swindlers from the police and helped to get one of them arrested.

55-year-old SGS testified that he met one of the fraudsters in front of a restaurant in Dubai’s Al Baraha area last February. The man claimed his name was Mohammed.

“He started visiting me in the fish market with a dark person who he claimed was his brother. One day, they said they needed to buy a chemical that is available only at the American consulate to clean discoloured dollar bills. Then they made a demonstration in my presence.

“They poured a white substance on a blackened $100 note, cleaned it and gave it to me to deposit in a bank. I did that and the currency note proved to be genuine. A week later, they met me in my house in Abu Dhabi where they cleaned seven $100 notes by using a yellow glue-like liquid.

“A few days later, they came to me and showed me a document that they claimed had been issued by the US embassy.  The document carried a picture of the American flag and a blackened currency note and said the document entitles him to get the liquid from the embassy. They asked me to give them $5,000 in addition to other expenses. I gave them Dh20,000 for transforming black notes into dollar bills. They said they will return the money plus Dh5,000 as my profit.

“I met them later in a hotel in Dubai and they were accompanied by a third dark man. They claimed that the amount I had given them was not enough to buy the liquid and asked me to give them more. They cleaned 10 black coloured slips into $100 notes. At first, I refused to give them more money but when they insisted, I gave them a total of Dh9,000 in two installments. When they asked for more towards hotel expenses, I lend them Dh7,000.

“A few days later I received a phone call from the police telling me that the three men are swindlers and that they have conned other people and are wanted by the police,” testified the victim.

Police sought the help of SGS, the victim, for arresting the accused. Police could arrest one of them who was a Liberian visitor identified as AB, 41.

A police officer testified that following a complaint made by other victims, police searched the accused and found out that he is in touch with an Emirati fish dealer.

“We called the fish dealer and arranged with him to get the accused arrested. Searching him, we confiscated one $100 note that proved to be forged,” testified First Lieutenant Yaser Ahmad.

The accused claimed he got the note from a Nigerian he met in a street in Deira against selling him an iPad.

The Court will give its verdict on July 29.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.