DUBAI 26 July 2017: An Emirati bogus partner in a company, allegedly sold the share of the actual investor to others in revenge as the victim had asked to transfer the licence to another sponsor, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.
SI, 36, first corporal sponsored Pakistani MM, 51, in a scrap company against Dh9,000 that the latter would pay him annually.
The two signed a contract for the set up of the company in November, 2011 of 51/49 rate of partnership. As the Pakistani investor trusted the Emirati sponsor he did not ask him to sign on a document stating that he does not own anything in the company and that he was only a sponsor.
In January 2015, the Pakistani investor was shocked when he accidently learned from a fellow countryman MJ that his company was sold to another person.
“A friend of mine attended a dinner feast which was held by someone called Zubair, who announced that he has bought my company during the feast. My friend who was shocked to hear that came to tell me and check with me,” testified the victim.
The victim checked with the Department of Economic Development and found out that his name was removed from his company’s licence and that Zubair and other people had bought it. Later the name of the company was completely changed.
The victim had 41 pickups of Dh2.2 million value registered in the company’s name. They had been transferred to the name of the new company and 25 pickups Dh1.3m value were missing.
The victim found out that his Emirati sponsor in the licence had used a power of attorney letter attested by the notary public in Dubai.
Power of Attorney
“I did not give the licence sponsor any power of attorney. On the contrary, a couple of days after signing the setup contract, I had obtained a power of attorney from the sponsor to be able to sign on transactions of my company.
On November 21, 2011, at 10am I met him at the notary public at Al Twar office. As I arrived he had already had typed the required letter. We got in together to the office of the notary public AA. The sponsor put all letters together and turned the paper where it should be signed only. So the notary public did not see the subject of the letter.
I signed on one document only while my licence sponsor signed on two documents. The notary public attested and stamped the documents,” said the victim.
The victim found out that the other document was another power of attorney stating the victim gave to the sponsor. The accused had forged the victim’s signature exploiting that he was with him before the notary public.
Revenge
When the victim was asked why he thinks that the sponsor used the power of attorney after about four years from January 2015, falsely obtaining it, he said that recently he expressed his tendency to change his name in the licence as he found another sponsor.
The accused sold the investor’s share for Dh243,000 against the forged power of attorney he had – conning the buyer as well.
The Pakistani buyer of the company testified that he learnt from a typing office about the will of its owner to sell and so he got his contact number.
“The owner of the company supplied me with the trade licence to check if there were any violation. On January 12, 2015, I agreed with him to buy it for Dh243,000 against 15 cheques. The deal includes 20 cars that were under the company’s name. I have rented a new location for the company at Fareej Al Marrar and the seller continued as a sponsor in the licence. On January 26, the seller removed his name from the licence and put instead of him a name of Emirati woman SJ.
The company continued operating under the same previous name until April 20 when the buyer changed its name.
“Three months later, I met the victim in the Industrial area in Sharjah and he told me then that the company I have bought is his. I told him that I have bought it from SI and I do not know what was between him and his sponsor,” testified the buyer.
The accused admitted to forging the victim’s signature on the power of attorney, conning the notary public and making him attest and stamp the forged power of attorney, and conning the buyer of Dh243,000 by selling properties that he does not own.
The court will reconvene on August 24.
By Lolyana Zaki