Dubai: Eight men have been accused of duping three employees of money exchange houses by luring them to a hotel on the pretext of exchanging $1 million and stealing the equivalent amount in dirhams.

The three employees, who work for two different money exchange houses, were said to have been contacted by a Jordanian businessman who wanted to convert $1 million to dirhams in February.

The Indian employees communicated between each other and arranged Dh3.6 million, according to records, that was meant to be handed over in exchange for the $1 million to the Jordanian at a hotel room in Al Muraqqabat.

Four African men showed up at the hotel room where, according to records, the employees were beaten up, tied them with ropes and threatened after brandishing knives and cleavers, and absconded with Dh3.6 million.

The victims reported the matter to the police immediately and gave details about a Cameroonian man, who had driven the other four robbers to the hotel in a car.

Records showed that the eight men — six Cameroonians and two Malians — were apprehended one at a time in a few days after the incident.

Prosecutors accused six suspects of beating the Indian employees, tying them with ropes, stealing their cash and threatening them with sharp tools.

Two other suspects, a merchant and a technician, were charged with possessing Dh3.3 million of the total stolen cash.

The two Malians and a Cameroonian pleaded guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

They also told presiding judge Urfan Omar that the remaining five suspects had nothing to do with the heist and that they were not present at the time when they robbed the employees.

The technician and merchant contended before the court that they did not know that the seized Dh3.3 million were stolen.

One of the Indian employees testified to prosecutors that his Sri Lankan friend told him over the phone about the Jordanian businessman who wanted to convert $1 million to dirhams.

“I called up a colleague and informed him about the deal ... we contacted with another employee at another exchange house to arrange the money. When we went to the hotel room where we had agreed to meet, the suspects showed up. In the beginning, they took out a bundle of dollars from a black bag and one of them pretended to be counting. After he finished counting the first bundle, he put his hands inside the bag and we thought that he was going to take out another bundle to continue counting ... then all of a sudden, he took out a knife and his accomplices also brandished sharp tools. They assaulted us ... we were threatened, muzzled, tied with ropes and kept on the floor. Meanwhile, they took away the cash and our mobile phones and absconded,” he told prosecutors.

A police major testified to prosecutors that the Cameroonian suspect who drove the robbers to the hotel was apprehended first in Dubai Marina.

“We recovered from him Dh56,000 of the stolen cash. The second suspect was arrested in Al Satwa and he had Dh21,000 on him. Three other suspects were apprehended in Al Ain and they also had cash on them ... the rest were also apprehended later. During questioning, they admitted that they had carried out the heist,” the major claimed to prosecutors.

The trial continues.