Sharjah conman convicted: Six months in prison for Dh1.5 million fake college enrolment scam

Sharjah: The Sharjah Court of First Instance sentenced a person to six months in prison after convicting him of fraudulently obtaining Dh1.515 million. He had deceived a person of Arab nationality by claiming he could enrol his son in a prominent college, exploiting his false identity and his influential connections that enabled him to carry out the order. The accused deliberately left no evidence behind, but the court found him guilty and also ordered the case to be referred to the competent civil court, and obligated the convicted person to pay the court fees. The details of the case go back to the victim’s search for someone to help him enrol his son in a college. After someone told him that the accused could help him with that, he contacted him by phone. The accused claimed that he could achieve his goal, then asked for Dh70,000 in cash, and received the money from the victim’s son in one of the shopping centres in Sharjah. The incident did not stop there, as the accused later met the victim at a hotel, and deceived him by claiming he could register his son, and asked him for Dh445,000 as expenses for the first academic year, in addition to asking for Dh1 million for investment. The following day, the victim’s son went to the accused and handed him the sum of Dh1.445 million, but the accused did not fulfil his promise and did not return the money. The court heard the testimony of a woman who had a working relationship with the victim and a working and friendly relationship with the accused. She said that she intervened to try to resolve the dispute after she learned that the accused had taken the money, and that he admitted to her that he had received the amount. The victim’s legal representative said that the accused tried from the beginning to carry out the crime by ensuring none of the evidence could lead to him, as he insisted on receiving the money in cash, justifying this by claiming that the nature of his work did not allow him to receive any amounts through his bank account, and he stipulated that the deliveries take place inside his private car. She added that the relationship between the victim and the accused could be traced from the beginning, starting with investigating the identity of the accused and his circumstances, up to identifying the meetings and correspondence that took place between the two parties, which revealed the first threads of the incident. Then the money transfer operations were documented, witnesses and telephone correspondence were used, up to the evidence that was presented before the court. After considering the case, the court concluded that the accused had used an incorrect title and fraudulent means that led the victim to hand over the money to him, so it ruled to convict him and punish him with six months imprisonment. It also decided to refer the case to the competent civil court, and to obligate the convicted to pay the court fees.