Multinational gang forfeits US dollars

DUBAI ? Dubai criminal court heard on Monday the criminal case No. 5881/2005, which was referred to by the public prosecution.

A gang of 7 people (including a Ghanaian) was arrested early this year and was charged with forgery and of entering the country on visit and employment visas. They continued to live in the country even after their visas had expired and as such they were also charged with overstaying in the country.

The case dates back when a UAE officer at economic crime section was tipped off that a 7-man gang possessed forged US currency worth $750,000.

The defendants are Youssif E, 39, (Saudi ? on visit visa), Abdullah N, 30, (Yemeni ? on visit visa), Ahmad Ye, 32, (Yemeni ? a painter), Atik E, 29, (Yemeni ? in charge of an office), Aly H, 52, (Sudanese ? merchant), Hafiz M, 35, (Sudanese ? a secretary), and Abu Bakar Yousuf, 42, (Ghana ? on visit visa). The informer cultivated acquaintance with the sixth defendant (Khafez) with the ploy that he had arrangements to circulate fake dollars.

The second accused told the police decoy that he would get such currency through somebody who knows most of the Africans and then called the seventh accused, Abu Bakar, who told them that he knew Africans who hold the dud dollars and found it difficult to distribute them. The decoy offered to circulate the currency by purchasing the fake dollars at 30 per cent less than their face value and then exchange them with the UAE dirhams through the sources known to him.

After a while, the second defendant (Abdullah) contacted the decoy and agreed to hand him over a sample of the dollars but kept putting off the meeting agreed upon. However, the informer told him that the first defendant (Yousuf E) was willing to give him a sum of $750,000 without the knowledge of the other defendants.

They decided to carry out the transaction in a vehicle and the police laid out a trap. But Yousuf changed the meeting venue to an exchange bureau in Naif area, Deira. The police team was waiting for him at the designated place with other undercover agents. When the informer and Yousuf showed up, the decoy received from the latter the blue suitcase he was carrying.

Upon opening it, he was surprised to find bundles of paper, adhesive tapes, and a packet of powder. Yousuf cut open one of the paper bundles with a knife to find black papers inside.

The decoy asked him about the dollars and he immediately opened another bundle of 100-dollar bills. The police then raided the bureau and caught him red-handed with the suitcase, which contained $172,600.

The police raided Yousuf's home in Al Muteena where they found bundles of black papers and a treasury seal. Yousuf confessed that he and the other accused wanted to circulate the fake money and that they were waiting for their shares of the bargain. Some of the defendants called on him on his mobile, which had a loud speaker, and asked him how things were progressing. Yousuf told them that every thing was done and that he was waiting for them in a hotel room.

Later, the other six accused came to the hotel, where Yousuf was waiting to receive the share of the loot where they were apprehended by the police.

The forensic report, which tested the $1,728 hundred dollars notes, found that they were fake.

Lawyer Issa bin Hayder who is defending some of the accused said that the clients did not know that the dollars were fake.