JEDDAH, 18 May 2004 — A Gulf businessman was defrauded of more than SR5 million by an African gang in Jeddah before the gang members were arrested and the money returned, Okaz reported yesterday.
The Arab from an unidentified Gulf country was lured from Dubai to the Kingdom after being contacted via a satellite phone by men posing as influential Africans, the paper said, quoting Col. Muhammad Al-Makati of the crimes department in Jeddah.
The gangsters claimed to have “huge amounts of dollars belonging to a deposed African president” which they would sell him for SR2.5 to the greenback instead of the official rate of 3.75.
The man arrived in Jeddah carrying five million UAE dirhams, which is exchanged at around 3.65 to the dollar, and met with his contacts in a furnished flat, which they rented using fake IDs.
Instead of completing the deal, the Africans beat him, tied him down and muzzled him, making off with the money. But he managed to free himself and reported to police, who arrested the men less than 12 hours later. Okaz said police had returned the money to the businessman but did not say if he himself would be prosecuted over his plan to buy smuggled currency.
