Two brothers who stabbed a man to death over a Dh1.3 million cash dispute have been jailed for life.
The court heard how the victim was knifed with such force that the weapon lodged inside his skull.
The attack happened after the older of the two Afghani siblings lost the huge sum in a failed car park development project.
In an effort to recover the money, the pair offered their victim Dh300,000 to help them track down the cash. When they felt he was reneging on the deal they stabbed him.
Earlier this year, Dubai Criminal Court jailed the younger defendant, 19, for 15 years for premeditated murder.
His 23-year-old brother was initially cleared of the charge, but both men have now been jailed for life - a term of 25 years - after prosecutors successfully argued that the younger man's sentence be increased and his brother's acquittal overturned.
Court records showed that at 11.15pm on October 9 last year, the two Afghani men were spotted by a security guard in Al Mamzar Centre’s car park, in Dubai, dragging a man’s body.
The guard swiftly raised the alarm with a colleague.
“Once we arrived, the two saw us and dropped the body, then got into a Range Rover and sped off,” said the 27-year-old Pakistani guard.
The guards found the victim topless and suffering from stab wounds to the head.
Police checked CCTV footage and managed to trace the car through its number plate.
“The recording showed the victim running topless and a man carrying a scarf chasing him, before catching up and strangling him with the scarf," said an Emirati CID lieutenant.
"When the victim fell down, apparently unconscious, the attacker walked back to the car, then returned carrying a knife and stabbed the deceased several times.
“We discovered that they were hiding in Al Ain’s industrial area and were preparing to flee the country, so we arranged with Abu Dhabi police to apprehended them the following day.
“The 19-year-old told us that he had arrived to the country a year ago after his brother was scammed by a man in a car park project."
The younger defendant told the court that his older brother had agreed to pay Dh300,000 in return for help retrieving the Dh1.3m.
“He told us that the deceased soon began stalling, despite being paid Dh150,000 in advance,” said the lieutenant.
The brothers then visited the victim, whose age was not disclosed in records, in his office on the day of the murder. He asked them for the rest of the payment to help them get back their money, which angered the pair.
“The defendants admitted during questioning that they tricked the victim into getting into their car after promising to pay him the rest of his fees in their shop in Al Mamzar Centre," said the lieutenant.
"But once they arrived at the mall’s car park they killed him using a knife, which the 19-year-old admitted buying five days earlier with the intent to kill the victim if he didn't help them.”
He said the younger defendant told police that a few days before the murder, he told his brother about his intentions, but his brother did not agree with his plan.
“He said that his brother told him this is Dubai not Afghanistan. Had they been in Afghanistan, they would cut the man into little pieces, but they can't do that in Dubai," the lieutenant said.
A medical report revealed the blade of the knife used in the stabbing had broken inside the victim’s skull and had the 19-year-old defendant’s fingerprints on it.
In court last year, the younger defendant admitted to a premeditated murder charge, but told judges his brother had not taken part in the murder.
The court ruled that both men should be deported after serving their jail terms. Each can file a petition to appeal against their sentence with the Court of Cessation within 30 days.