Dubai:
A stewardess has gone on trial for blackmailing a man on Instagram by demanding Dh365,000 to refrain her from posting some semi-nude pictures of his wife with her former boyfriend, a Dubai Court of First Instance heard.
The victim, a 35-year-old Azerbaijani salesman, testified that on December 31, 2016, he received a message on his Instagram account from the 29-year-old defendant from Latvia, claiming that she had pictures of his wife and her (the wife’s) ex-boyfriend.
“I felt angry and miserable and contacted her immediately. She told me that she was in possession of many pictures of my wife together with her former boyfriend and demanded $100,000 for them. She threatened that in case I fail to pay her the amount then she would send the pictures to my family back home,” the victim testified.
When she sent him a picture showing his wife with a man, he transferred $10,000 to the bank account of the defendant.
“She told me that I had to pay $10,000 for each picture, if not then will send them to my people back home. I’m a respectful person in my country and those pictures would have embarrassed me and my daughter,” he added.
The man informed Dubai Police who traced the Instagram account and arrested the defendant. The defendant confessed to creating an account to blackmail the victim.
A 29-year-old Emirati police officer testified that the suspect knew the ex-boyfriend of the victim’s wife and that he had given her his i-pad, which contained the pictures.
The defendant denied the charges and a verdict will be delivered on October 10.
