Dubai: A television director has been accused of threatening a Frenchwoman on social media that he would create montages of her photos and turn them into a porn movie if she didn’t pay him Dh86,000.
The Lebanese TV and cinema director was said to have met the Frenchwoman in 2014 and befriended her after convincing her that he could help her find a job in Dubai. He managed to take several photos of the woman once they became close.
The woman claimed that she was contacted by the director two years later on several social media platforms on which he asked her to pay him Dh86,000 if she did not want to see herself in a porn movie.
The woman promptly contacted Dubai Police and was advised to lodge a criminal complaint via email to the cybercrime section.
In her emailed complaint, the Frenchwoman claimed to the police that the director had threatened to tinker with her photos (which he had taken with his phone when they were friends between 2014 and 2016), make montages of them and have them turned into a sex video if she didn’t pay him money.
Dubai Police’s cybercrime section guided the Frenchwoman to communicate with the Lebanese man and to give the impression that she was ready to pay him the money.
Primary interrogations by the police revealed the Lebanese director’s identity and details and he was summoned for questioning.
Prosecutors accused the suspect of misusing social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) and the internet to extort the Frenchwoman and threaten her and of breaching her privacy and modesty. He was also accused of abusing the telecommunications system to stalk, disturb and offend the woman.
The Lebanese suspect pleaded not guilty and denied the accusations levelled against him before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday. His lawyer also produced before the presiding judge a written defence argument that also included a written waiver from the Frenchwoman.
A cybercrime police lieutenant testified to prosecutors that the Frenchwoman reported her ordeal after she lodged an email complaint.
“The woman resides in France and she contacted us by email in which she complained that the suspect had threatened to montage her photos and produce them into a sex movie; she claimed that he told her he would upload the movie on Facebook and the internet. She alleged that he had taken those photos when they were friends during the last three years. She mentioned that the suspect’s professional experience as a TV and cinema director allows him to produce such a movie.
“The suspect also gathered a few photos of the woman and her family and wrote offensive comments on Facebook, according to the woman’s emailed complaint. She said he blackmailed her and asked her for money; he also communicated with her on WhatsApp. The suspect came to the police station shortly after he was contacted by the police. Upon confronting him with the emailed complaint, he claimed that he did what he did to get back the money he had spent on her during their relationship,” the lieutenant claimed before prosecutors.
The court will give a ruling in the case on January 30.
