DUBAI: Police in Dubai have arrested an African man who operated as a taxi driver in an unmarked car, picking up passengers and then stealing their money through an intricate scam.
The man would drive around the city with his accomplices, who would pretend they were also passengers, and offer lifts to people.
He was arrested after two of his victims filed complaints against him with the police. According to the CID, one of the victims, a Filipino man, was waiting for a taxi near the Mall of Emirates when the accused stopped to pick him up. When he asked about the fare, the man told him not to worry.
Then, instead of taking him to his destination, the accused drove to a secluded area where he claimed he was dropping off the other passenger.
There, the passenger got off and while the car was still parked rushed back shouting and claiming someone had stolen his money, which was in American dollars.
The man then demanded to inspect the driver’s wallet and after checking it and finding nothing asked for the passenger’s wallet. The unsuspecting victim handed over his wallet, which had AED2,800, and the passenger checked and returned it to him. At that very point, the driver threw some dollars at the Filipino victim’s feet. Fearing he was being framed, the man ran away and only later realized he had been conned. A few days later, a Pakistani man filed a complaint that he had also been swindled in a similar fashion. The gang stole AED9,000 out of the AED20,000 he was carrying in his wallet.
On arrest, police found that the man had a long history of committing such crimes. He was also discovered carrying false identities and a forged passport from the Ivory Coast.
The man had previously been deported from the UAE for a similar crime and had entered the Emirates under a different name and a Cameroon passport.
