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A couple who said they would resurrect a man’s dead brother has been jailed after conning their victim out of Dhs29,000 (about US$8,000).
The African lovers were found guilty of fraud and staying in the UAE illegally.
They were handed four-month prison terms by Dubai Court of Misdemeanours yesterday.
The victim, who lives in Ras Al Khaimah, had been haunted by his brother’s death in a car accident 22 years ago. A friend put him in touch with the couple, who claimed they had special spiritual powers.
The duo told the victim an initial payment of Dhs18,000 was needed for a liquid called ‘Sandaliya’, which they would use to help bring his brother back to life.
They said they would then need further payments to contact the spirits.
The victim said: “They requested Dhs18,000 as a down payment to buy the liquid and I gave them the money.
“We met several times in Dubai after that and they took other amounts until the total reached Dhs29,000.”
The victim said he received a call from a French phone number and the caller said his dead brother had been taken by spirits and was being held in the Mediterranean.
“He claimed he could return my brother to life for Dhs1 million. <span style="font-weight: bold">At that point I felt I was being conned</span> and called Dubai Police,” he added.
Police then set up a sting and arrested the 50-year-old Sudanese man and his 32-year-old girlfriend, from Chad.
The court heard that after the brother’s death in 1989, there were many rumours that he was still alive.
“Some neighbours and other people told me that they had seen him after he died. I asked for permission from the authorities to exhume his grave and check,” the victim added.
“Seven months after my brother died his grave was opened. He was there but looked as if he had only died that day.”
The court heard that later, in 1996, a nephew reported seeing the dead man and a neighbour more recently claimed the man was alive and had stayed at her house for two weeks.
The couple will be deported after serving their sentences.
The African lovers were found guilty of fraud and staying in the UAE illegally.
They were handed four-month prison terms by Dubai Court of Misdemeanours yesterday.
The victim, who lives in Ras Al Khaimah, had been haunted by his brother’s death in a car accident 22 years ago. A friend put him in touch with the couple, who claimed they had special spiritual powers.
The duo told the victim an initial payment of Dhs18,000 was needed for a liquid called ‘Sandaliya’, which they would use to help bring his brother back to life.
They said they would then need further payments to contact the spirits.
The victim said: “They requested Dhs18,000 as a down payment to buy the liquid and I gave them the money.
“We met several times in Dubai after that and they took other amounts until the total reached Dhs29,000.”
The victim said he received a call from a French phone number and the caller said his dead brother had been taken by spirits and was being held in the Mediterranean.
“He claimed he could return my brother to life for Dhs1 million. <span style="font-weight: bold">At that point I felt I was being conned</span> and called Dubai Police,” he added.
Police then set up a sting and arrested the 50-year-old Sudanese man and his 32-year-old girlfriend, from Chad.
The court heard that after the brother’s death in 1989, there were many rumours that he was still alive.
“Some neighbours and other people told me that they had seen him after he died. I asked for permission from the authorities to exhume his grave and check,” the victim added.
“Seven months after my brother died his grave was opened. He was there but looked as if he had only died that day.”
The court heard that later, in 1996, a nephew reported seeing the dead man and a neighbour more recently claimed the man was alive and had stayed at her house for two weeks.
The couple will be deported after serving their sentences.
