(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Dubai Police have arrested four men and a European woman for allegedly defrauding more than 33 GCC nationals by offering them TOEFL certificates.
Brigadier Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, said that the suspects claimed that they owned an institute in Dubai and they would issue TOEFL certificates against Dh24,000 for each certificate.
The case came to light after one of the victims, who was living outside the country, told the police through the Twitter page of Lieutenant-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, that he was cheated by a fake institute in Dubai. Lt.-Gen. Dhahi Khalfan instructed the police to investigate the matter.
The police contacted the complainant to get the details of the fraud.
The police investigation showed that eight GCC nationals from the same country have filed complaints against the institute, which allegedly took money from them offering to issue them TOEFL certificates. Some of them said that they had come to Dubai to meet the suspects before making the payment.
The institute had booked hotel rooms for them and convinced them that they would be given the certificates soon. However, they didn't get the certificates for more than one year even though they contacted the suspects many times.
The police managed to identify the suspects and set a trap for them, he said, adding that the suspects included four Arab academics and a European lady. They contacted the victims on Internet, claiming that they are working with an institute. However, the police later found out that the institute was shut down in 2010 and the suspects used their experience in this field.
Al Mansouri said that 33 people were defrauded by the suspects and eight of them who lodged complaint have got their money back.
The complainant who contacted the Dubai Police Chief thanked the police for their immediate action and arrest of the fraudsters for enabling him to recover the money he paid to the suspects.
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