Jilted driver in court over Dh160,000 blackmail plot



A Dubai driver threatened to share intimate footage of his employer's daughter after she tried to end their relationship, a court heard.

The Indian national, 33, allegedly warned the woman he would disclose a recording of the pair having sex if she didn't pay him more than Dh160,000 - or agree to marry him.

He launched the blackmail plot after she told him she wanted to break up with him on March 17 of this year.

Dubai Criminal Court was told the man had also stolen Dh2,000 in cash and other valuables from her bedroom in an act of revenge.

The Indian woman, 20, alerted police after he made his demands.

During questioning, the accused said he had been having an affair with his sponsor's daughter since she was 16.

“I have been working for her father for 10 years and used to drive her to school from her home,” he said.

“Then we became involved romantically and we had sex several times.”

He admitted becoming angry when she told him of her intentions to end their romance.

“I told her I would tell her father about us,” he said.

He denied charges of theft and issuing threats at a hearing on Tuesday.

A verdict on the matter is expected on July 28.

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Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

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Name: Kumulus Water
 
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Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

if you go

The flights

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How to vote in the UAE

1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/

2) Take it to the US Embassy

3) Deadline is October 15

4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

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Number of employees: 140 

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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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