A man in Dubai has been sentenced to five years in jail for forging official documents to scam a Dubai businessman of Dh7.7 million. He has been punished in absentia.

According to the international news source, the Dubai Court of First Instance ordered the payment of a Dh7.7 million fine by the defendant, followed by deportation.

As per the official records, the defendant had sold a fake property in Dubai to a businessman. He had also forged the receipts and other official documents to con the 42-year-old victim.

The victim stated he met the British defendant at his office at a real estate company on Shaikh Zayed Road and offered him hotel accommodations at an upcoming project near Burj Khalifa. The place belonged to a renowned real estate company based in Dubai.

The Egyptian businessman said, “We agreed to buy it for Dh7.7 million. I paid the money in three advance payments in 2015.”

On the contrary, the defendant presented the receipts to the businessman. He then handed him a contract reportedly issued with official stamps of a Dubai government department.

“He claimed that the unit had been registered under my name and that the final contract would be given to me by the end of the project.”

However, the businessman asked the property company the unit he had purchased and provided them with all the receipts. But the office told him that the documents were fake.

He then went to the defendant’s company where the employees told him that the defendant had escaped from the country and that he had scammed other customers and embezzled the company’s funds as well.

“The project was real, but the unit [that was apparently sold to me] was fake,” he said.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with forgery, using forged documents, and illegally taking Dh7.7 million from the businessman.