A pair of fraudsters locked up for a year after receiving more than Dh900,000 for selling a flat they didn't own to an unwitting investor have lost a court appeal against their sentence.
The offenders, a 44-year-old real estate agent from Pakistan and his 29-year-old accomplice, from India, forged an ownership certificate in order to push through the sale of an apartment at Marina View Towers.
The men changed the name of the flat's owner to that of the younger defendant before passing it off as an original document to the buyer.
The incident dates back to April 19, 2016, when the partners in crime met with the Indian investor at the real estate agency where the older defendant worked.
The victim said he was taken to two apartments at Marina View Towers by the defendants, who unlocked both units.
Two days after the investor wrote two cheques for Dh938,000 in the name of the younger defendant, he cashed the sum and stopped taking calls.
The investor reported the fraud to police who found that the younger accused had left the country.
The manager of the real estate agency where the Pakistani defendant worked told prosecutors that he was hired based on his years of experience but had worked with the company only for a month.
The older defendant denied the charges in both criminal and appeal courts, while the other man remains at large.
He was convicted in his absence at Dubai Criminal Court in January and is still to be located.
The men were also jointly fined Dh21,000.