Million-dollar death threat puts man on trial

An Iranian businessman allegedly threatened to kill a visitor if he did not return $1 million he borrowed from one of his female friends, the Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Monday.

According to the prosecution, NNT, 33, threatened to kill 39-year-old Canadian visitor Mehrad Safari who is of Iranian origin.

According to case records, the accused confessed to contacting Safari and asking him to return $1m he had taken from a woman called Nasim Bayat.

A second woman involved in the case, Shakouri, 31, testified before the Prosecution that on January 21, she received a phone call from an unknown person who asked her to meet him to discuss property deals.

“I accepted to meet him at 8pm on the same day. I met him in Dubai Marina but instead of talking about properties he started asking about Safari's whereabouts. I refused to continue and left the place.

“He sent me an SMS threatening me and asking me to help him find Safari. He said if I did not co-operate he would not allow me to return to Iran. I would not be able to step out of my house at night and that he would land me in jail. In one of his SMSes he mentioned Safari will be executed and that his murder will be in news in a couple of days," she testified.

Shakouri called Safari to warn him.

Safari, in his testimony, also claimed that his brother in the US had called him up saying unknown people were calling and treatening him. His brother passed on the number of one of the callers, he added.

“I called the number and NNT answered. He immediately asked my whereabouts me. I told him that I am overseas. NNT ‘warned’ me that if I am in the UAE, I would have been killed because two people have come from Iran specifically for this purpose. He claimed that he is a good samaritan and that he wants money from me for his services. He told me that a person will arrive in the UAE from London to collect the required amount,” he testified.

As Safari did not respond, he contacted Shakouri because he knew she was in contact with Safari. He also admitted to meeting Shakouri and asking her to supply him with information about Safari. He confessed to sending her threatening SMS.

The case is adjourned to October 31.