More than a dozen people who ran a casino from a villa in Dubai have been jailed, while five others were fined for gambling.
In an effort to purge the gambling dens runs from homes across the emirate, a Dubai Police captain said the force organised a raid in April on one such property in Al Rashidiya after a tip-off.
A team of officers made the late-night raid and found poker and roulette tables inside.
“We put a plan to deter gambling places in the city,” the police captain said in court documents.
The two-floor villa has gambling tables, a cashier and other tools used in gambling. It has a surveillance system in all rooms and there was a service for providing beverages and food for customers
Dubai Police captain's testimony to court
“The two-floor villa has gambling tables, a cashier and other tools used in gambling. It has a surveillance system in all rooms and there was a service for providing beverages and food for customers.”
A second officer said they had seized several mobile phones in the raid, which led to prison sentences for 17 people.
“There was a room in the villa as a command room containing screens to monitor the other rooms and gambling areas,” he said. “There was a screen to show the bets. We seized three new iPhones inside the room.”
A Chinese citizen, 29, was charged with organising gambling at the secret den.
He was sentenced to one year in prison, fined Dh100,000 ($27,225) and will be deported on completion of his prison term.
The other 16 members of the group — who were aged between 21 to 39 and from Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and China — were working in the casino as cleaners, shisha servers, translators, a technician, a watchman and croupiers.
The female cleaners said the place was used as a gambling den.
Three female croupiers at the poker tables said they had also made sure no cheating happened while customers played roulette.
At Dubai Criminal Court they were charged with criminal abetting and each sentenced to three months in jail, fined Dh100,000 and will also be deported upon release.
Five customers from India, Iran, Indonesia and Britain who were found in the villa during the police raid denied engaging in gambling and claimed they were attending a party.
They were fined Dh10,000 each for gambling inside the villa.
All money and gambling tools have been confiscated by order of Dubai Courts.
This year, a Dubai Police officer uncovered an Asian gang of seven who ran a gambling den inside a clothes shop in the Al Fahidi area of the city.
UAE laws prohibit all forms of gambling, as well as the advertising of any form of gaming.
Teaching in coronavirus times
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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