A court in Sharjah has sentenced a man to six months in prison after finding him guilty of defrauding a buyer of Dh692,000 through a fake wholesale iPhone transaction.
In a ruling issued on July 16, 2026, the Fifth Misdemeanor Circuit of the Sharjah Court of First Instance convicted the man of fraud under the UAE Crimes and Punishments Law. The court also ordered him to pay court fees and referred the victim’s compensation claim to the appropriate civil court.
According to prosecutors, the accused falsely claimed to own a mobile phone trading business and offered to supply 160 units of the iPhone 17 Pro Max worth a total of Dh692,000.
The prosecution said the man misrepresented himself as a legitimate electronics supplier to convince the buyer to hand over the money despite having neither a licensed business nor the promised smartphones.
Court records showed that the transaction took place on Feb. 20, 2024, near Emirates Post on Jamal Abdul Nasser Street in Sharjah.
Believing the transaction was legitimate, the buyer arrived carrying Dh692,000 in cash inside a laptop bag.
After receiving the money, the accused allegedly told the buyer he would collect the smartphones from a nearby location and return shortly. Instead, prosecutors said, he left the area on foot and never delivered the devices.
Investigators said the suspect later contacted the buyer through WhatsApp, directing him to a building in Al Nahda and instructing him to wait there for the delivery. Prosecutors argued that the message was another attempt to delay the discovery of the fraud and allow the suspect to escape with the money.
A witness who accompanied the buyer during the transaction corroborated the victim’s account, confirming that he saw the cash being handed over.
During the trial, the defendant denied the allegations, arguing that the incident was merely a commercial dispute rather than a criminal offense.
The court rejected the argument, ruling that the case involved deliberate fraud rather than a failed business transaction.
Lawyer Mohammed Al Awami Al Mansoori, who represented the victim, argued that the suspect had intentionally posed as a mobile phone supplier to gain the buyer’s trust and execute the scheme. He also cited the suspect’s failure to deliver the phones and his subsequent WhatsApp messages as evidence of an attempt to conceal the fraud.
The victim’s lawyer sought Dh52,000 in temporary compensation for financial losses.
In its decision, the court found that the defendant intentionally obtained the buyer’s money through deception and false representations, sentencing him to six months in prison while leaving the civil compensation claim to be resolved in a separate proceeding.
