The members of a gang who kidnapped a Chinese man over a financial dispute have had their prison sentences reduced from three years to six months by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
Court records showed that three men from Tajikistan were hired by a Chinese woman, 26, to kidnap and threaten her countryman over a Dh20,000 debt he owed her.
The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced the four people to three years in jail followed by deportation.
The Appeal Court amended the decision and reduced their sentences to six months, while upholding the deportation order.
In November last year, the three men, aged between 18 and 35, used a rented car to kidnap the victim from International City in Dubai, before covering his face and taking him to a deserted area.
The trio assaulted the victim and stole money and valuables worth Dh29,000.
The victim testified that he was with his brother entering their building at 2am when the three men pounced on him and beat him, before dragging him inside a car.
“They tied my hands with tape and put me in the back seat. They covered my face using my shirt and took me to a deserted area,” he told the court.
“They stole my watch worth Dh6,000, mobile phone, ring and Dh16,000 cash."
After taking his phone, the men called his brother and demanded a ransom but he alerted Dubai Police.
Surveillance cameras helped Dubai Police to identify a white Hyundai vehicle that the gang were using to carry out the crime, which was later tracked to an isolated area in Al Jadaf.
“The rented vehicle had a tracking device. We went to the vehicle’s location and found the victim with one of the defendants. He was scared and [had been] assaulted by the defendants,” a police officer said.
The other two men were arrested and claimed the Chinese woman asked them to kidnap the victim over a financial dispute.
They admitted to receiving the location of the victim from the woman through Telegram.
The court ordered the defendants to pay a fine of Dh29,800.
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