Thursday, Mar 05, 2009
Gulf News
Dubai: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Dubai Police has arrested a four-member gang that specialised in counterfeiting credit cards and using them to buy expensive jewellery and watches.
Fake credit cards and passports were found with the gang members, three men and a woman, all Turkish nationals.
On February 5, the Muraqqabat Police station received a report from M. B., an Arab financial controller of a foreign bank, who said he had received a phone call from a jewellery shop in the Port Saeed area.
The caller told him that a woman had bought jewellery worth about Dh250,000 using a credit card, but when the bank asked the shop to send a copy of the woman's ID, it turned out that the original owner of the credit card is American. The credit card was fake and was used to buy the items from other shops in Deira and Bur Dubai worth over Dh650,000.
Police also found that the same woman had used other credit cards from the same bank.
The CID set up an investigation team, which visited these shops and found out that the woman was accompanied by a man and gave a copy of a Turkish passport. She had also attempted to buy more jewellery using an American Express card from another shop but that did not work, so she used a Mastercard instead and gave the same passport copy. Traps were set in places that the gang members were expected to visit, and on February 4, Police received a tip that the woman was in a mall in Bur Dubai.
Police arrested the woman, who had used a platinum credit card in her last shopping spree. She showed the card to police and said that her friend gave it to her. When her purse was searched, five more fake credit cards were found along with two Turkish passports carrying her picture.
Police also seized an amount of jewellery, watches and expensive clothes that she had purchased.
On February 9, the police arrested the three other gang members, E.A., A.H. and J.M. in a nightclub.
Upon inspection, more expensive goods, money and fake IDs were found with the gang.
Police also found memory cards, electronics, laptops, equipment used to clone credit cards and 146 blank cards ready to be counterfeited.
The gang members were referred to the Public Prosecutor.
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
