JEDDAH, 9 August — Police have arrested a former soccer player-turned-swindler after complaints that the man had taken money from old and sick people on the pretext of helping them withdraw money from ATMs, the Okaz newspaper reported yesterday.
The 41-year-old former goalkeeper of a well-known sports club in Makkah suddenly switched careers.
Seemingly innocent, he would stand near ATMs during the final days of each month and offer his services to the old, sick and illiterate. On each occasion, the alleged swindler offered his services as though he were doing so on charitable impulse.
However, after putting the ATM card in the machine, he told his clients that the machine was not accepting the card or that there was insufficient balance for the withdrawal.
The man then handed his victim another card while keeping the original — with its pin number — for himself. The following day the victim learned from the bank that somebody had withdrawn his salary.
Police later discovered that the man had performed this trick more than 40 times. They arrested the swindler after building up a profile of him based on the testimony of his victims.
Patient runs off with medical records: A Saudi patient admitted to the Asir Central Hospital ran away with his medical file, the Okaz reported yesterday. Sayyaf ibn Saud Al-Dosary told the paper that he ran away from the hospital when doctors refused to remove a steel rod that had been planted in his leg following a traffic accident.
