A Dubai court has sentenced a gang of four to three years in prison. The convicts are in jail for assaulting and stealing about Dhs1.7 million (approx. $462,800) from a crypto investor based in Dubai, a local media outlet reported on Monday.
The incident reportedly occurred in March when the victim told local authorities that a group assaulted him at his home in the Naif area and stole money which belonged to his partner.
Per the report, the gangsters tied the victim’s hands and legs with a plastic rope and got the keys to an iron safe located under a table in his home. The thieves then opened the safe and took the money inside it before leaving the victim’s home.
After the gangsters left, the victim was able to untie himself and called his partner and local authorities to explain the situation. During the investigation, the crypto investor’s partner noted that he had received a call from the victim, who said that unknown persons had stolen the money in a safe in his house.
The partner said after hearing the bad news, he rushed down to the victim’s apartment, where he saw him tied up and scared. The partner also noted that the apartment was messy and that the safe was opened with no money left inside.
Following the investigations, the authorities discovered that the gangsters were illegal immigrants. They were subsequently arrested following an intensive search that also led to the recovery of part of the stolen funds.
The convicts also confessed to the robbery after being interrogated. The court also ruled that the gangsters would be deported after they served their jail terms.
Offline Crypto Theft on the Rise
Cryptocurrency investors have become a common target for bad actors, given the public opinion that investors are wealthy. In another report earlier this year, a male British soldier was charged with kidnap and robbery. The soldier and three other accomplices allegedly threatened and physically assaulted an Italian couple, forcing them to reveal the password to their crypto wallet.
