Dubai: An Indian man who allegedly conned scores of businessmen in the UAE, fled the country on an Indian repatriation flight under the Vande Bharat Mission after stealing goods such as cheese, dates, and face masks worth nearly six million dirhams, according to a media report.
Gulf News on Saturday reported that Yogesh Ashok Yariava, 36, owner of Royal Luck Foodstuff Trading and the prime suspect in the fraud took a flight to Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi on May 11. His mandatory two-week quarantine period would also have ended on May 25.
The bulk purchases made by Yariava included facemasks, hand-sanisters and medical gloves worth nearly half a million dirhams from Skydent Medical Equipment, Raheeq Laboratories and GSA Star; rice and nuts (Dh393,000) from Al Baraka Foods; tuna, pistachios and saffron (Dh300,725) from Yes Buy General Trading; French fries and mozzarella cheese (Dh229,000) from Mehdu General Trading; frozen Indian beef (Dh207,000) from Al Ahbab General Trading and halwa and tahina (Dh52812) from Emirates Sesame Factory.
The list of items and defrauded persons keeps getting longer as more and more victims come forward, the report said. The aggrieved traders have filed a case with the Bur Dubai police station.
They started rushing to the Royal Luck's Opal Tower office when their post-dated cheques started bouncing. But it was too late. They had shut down and all their 18 staffers had disappeared. Visits to their warehouses also drew a blank. The UAE businessmen have been left counting for their losses following the incident.
"Calls made to the company's sweet-talking purchase managers who visited us days earlier carrying fancy business cards remained unanswered," said Chandrasekaran Ganesan of Ajman-based Skydent Medical Equipment which supplied protective face masks worth Dh175,875.
Another business owner, Anand Asar said he visited Royal Luck's office after his cheque of Dh79,552 returned marked insufficient funds. "The security guard at the building told us their staff was last seen on May 17," said Asar who has since lodged a police complaint. "I am devastated. I don't know how I will recover my losses," said another trader. Reacting to the report, India's Consul-General in Dubai Vipul assured all possible help to the 40 odd victims.
