UAE Rulers' signatures forged to con American

Published Monday, July 15, 2013

By Eman Al Baik

Two Nigerians and a Jordanian are accused of forging the signatures of the seven Rulers, on a loan contract of $80 million for financing projects in oil, telecoms and real estate and using the same to cheat an American woman out of $2.4 million.

According to court testimony, the victim, EO, a 54-year-old chemical engineer, born in Ghana, but an American citizen, received a phone call from a UK number in April 2012.

The caller claimed to be Michel Barley and told her he got her number from a Ghanian person called Obiri.

The caller asked her to help him seal a gold deal with Obiri, who does not speak English.

Later, he offered to share the investment with the victim.

Two men were later sent by the caller to EO’s house in Ghana to explain the deal.

In her detailed testimony to the court EO said, “Obiri and another man who introduced himself as Mark Brown came to my house and explained the deal to me.

“I was not convinced with deal and so I refused their investment idea.

“A week later the so-called Michel called me again and told me about a profitable deal with the UAE government and asked me to prepare an efficiency study.

“I did that and sent it to him via email. After a week, he told me that the UAE government has chosen me to carry out the investment that the UAE will finance the project with $50m.

“He asked me to visit the UAE and to meet a representative of the UAE government who claimed to be Abdullah Mustafa, an Emirati, to complete the deal.

“Before coming to the UAE he asked me to transfer $50,000 as consultation starting fee. I transferred the amount to a bank account he supplied me with.

“As I arrived in Dubai, the one of who visited me in Ghana and claimed to be Mark Brown received me at the airport and picked me in a Hummer and took me to an office tower on Sheikh Zayed Road.

“In the office I was told that the UAE government is very enthusiastic about the project and admires my experience in the oil field stating that the value of the loan will be increased to $80m.

“He asked me to pay him $12,000 as a gift to the staff that will help finish the deal and also asked me to pay for four laptops as gifts. After doing that, Abdullah Mustafa, the alleged UAE government representative informed me that the government represented its seven rulers and agreed on increasing the value of the loan and so I signed the contract which allegedly carried the signatures of the rulers of the UAE.

“He later asked me to pay $2.4m which forms 3 per cent of the loan’s value and represent a guarantee.

“I told him that I do not have the full amount, but that I will manage to collect it.

“Michel Barely expressed his intention to pay $1m, provided I paid them back to him once I got the loan.

“I learnt from Abdullah Mustafa that Michel issued him a cheque of $1m value and asked me to transfer to him the amount I have. I transferred all the money I had, which was $1.1m.

“In August, I received an email from Abdullah asking me to arrange $1m as the cheque issued by Michel bounced. He assured to me that the loan agreement is still valid, provided that I transfer remaining amount of the guarantee US$1.3m.

“Abdullah also told me that he sold all his properties to help me and that he is facing family problems because of that and asked me to send him any amount I can.

“By the end of September, I had nothing to sell to meet the amount I was asked to pay so I decided to visit to the UAE.

“Michel got very upset and told me that he ended his relationship with the company and I have nothing to do with him.

“I started suspected the scam especially after Abdullah ignored me for three weeks and asked me to go back to my home country.

“While doing some investigations about the three men, surprisingly a man called me without telling me how he got my number or how he knew that I was subject to a scam told me that he had been conned by the three and supplied me with their pictures and real names.

“So I came to the UAE and logged a complaint with the police,” testified the victim.

The police investigated the complaint and the two Nigerians accused and arrested SO, 40, cleaner, and SA, 36, a hair dresser.

The cleaner, who had claimed to the victim that his name is Michel Barely, admitted to the scam, forging the signatures and falsifying a loan contract attributed to the UAE government represented by its seven rulers.

However, he claimed that he has received only $700,000 from the victim.

“I got $300,000 and the remaining $400,000 went to the other two,” he told investigators.

However, SA denied meeting the victim at any stage and that he got from the second accuse who was found to be not Abdullah Mustafa and not an Emirati, but rather a 58-year-old Jordanian employee identified as AS.

With the help of the two accused, police reached AS and arrested him in his house in the Al Muhaisna area.

AS denied forging a loan deal that carried the UAE government logo and forged signatures of the rulers.

However, the two Nigerians confirmed the victim’s claim and that AS had handed her over the forged loan contract.

The Court will reconvene on September 10.

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)

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