Indian police have made an arrest while searching for a man who pretended to be an employee of a prominent UAE family and stayed at a luxury hotel in the capital Delhi for four months before fleeing without paying the $28,000 bill.
Authorities said the man they arrested, Mohammed Sharif, 41, previously worked with a wealthy family in the UAE for nearly 10 years and was attracted by the luxurious lifestyle, developing a taste for designer shoes, cars and clothes.
Mr Sharif, who holds an MBA in finance and business management, frequently travelled with the family, but in 2020 he had to return to his hometown of Puttur in southern Karnataka, where he felt out of place, they said.
He decided to stay at a five-star hotel to “feel better”, police believe.
An investigating officer said the man they arrested told them how impressed he was with the family's lifestyle, especially the grand homes.
"He wanted to recreate that life in India,” he said.
“He also showed us his shoes and claimed they cost rupees 100,000 ($1,200). He claimed he bought his T-shirts for 10,000 rupees ($120).”
Authorities launched a manhunt last week following a complaint by the Leela Palace hotel that a guest fled without paying his hotel bill and stole silverware and pearls during his four-month stay.
The hotel said he produced a business card, a UAE resident card and other documents and routinely chatted with the hotel staff about his life in the UAE to corroborate his story.
However, authorities at the time said the UAE resident card appeared to be fake and said they didn't initially believe he had any connection to the Emirates.
They said the man stayed at the hotel until November, racking up a bill for more than 3.5 million rupees (US$43,000).
While he paid 1.1 million rupees, he wrote a cheque for a further two million rupees, dated November 20, before vanishing. It bounced two days later due to insufficient funds.
Police said they traced a sim card to Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, with the help of technical surveillance.
During the investigation, it was found that another guest had previously stayed at a five-star hotel in Mumbai for more than six months, racking up a bill of 9 million rupees.
Police said he is suspected of wanting to find investors for fake schemes to make more money.
“He was allegedly planning to flee without paying the bill but was caught by hotel staff and had to pay 6 million rupees. He has assets but is currently unemployed,” police said.
Mr Sharif has been charged with fraud, theft and impersonation.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight, Wednesday, BeIN Sports
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
