Woman conned into paying Dh3m for citizenship

The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution ordered the detention of two people for conning an Arab woman. An Emirati woman, F.A.G., and an Iraqi man, A.M.S., promised the victim that they would get her UAE citizenship in exchange for an amount close to Dh3 million and got Dh2,846,000 from her. In 2011, the victim met F.A.G., a former work colleague who had been living with her family in the UAE for a long time. Having applied earlier for UAE citizenship without success, the victim asked her friend whether she knew someone who could help her obtain citizenship. F.A.G. told the victim that she was working with the government authority responsible for issuing citizenship. She also told the victim that she was a member in a top confidential committee tasked with issuing citizenship and would follow up her case personally. F.A.G. asked the victim to submit passport photographs, passport copies and a citizenship fee of Dh600,000. Application process The victim submitted the required documents and made the payment in full. However, F.A.G. continued asking for more money to finalise the application process. Subsequently, the second defendant ,A.M.S., engaged the victim. He called the victim claiming he was a security officer who worked for the authority responsible for granting citizenship. He told the victim that her application was reviewed and under process. He assured her that he would use his connections with influential people to secure her citizenship. Both suspects asked the victim for further amounts of money until the total sum paid by the victim reached Dh2,846,000. The suspects started to pressure the victim to pay additional amounts of money, threatening to deport her and her family if she did not comply. The victim had used up all her savings, and could no longer afford to pay the requested sums so she decided to file a complaint against the defendants. Both the accused were arrested and referred to the public prosecution who ordered their detention for seven days pending investigation.