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Dubai: A suspected conman has expressed his readiness to be shot at to prove that an onyx stone, which he tried to sell for $500 million (about Dh1.8 billion), is bulletproof, a court heard on Monday.
"My 52-year-old Yemeni suspect is ready to put on the onyx stone and be shot at to prove his claims that anyone who wears this stone stays alive as he/she becomes bullet-proof. He is also willing to serve a life term in prison if the trial fails," his lawyer Saeed Al Ghailani, of Saeed Al Ghailani Advocates and Legal Consultants told the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour on Monday.
The Public Prosecution charged the Yemeni suspect, Q.M., with attempted swindling and trying to con peoples' money by posting a newspaper advertisement in which he promoted the bulletproof onyx stone for Dh1.8 billion.
"My client is innocent... he didn't even attempt to con or swindle anyone because when he promoted the onyx, he suggested that the interested customer could deposit the money with the police and wait for onyx's trial to prove whether is it bullet-proof or not," said Al Ghailani in his defence.
"I've been jailed, my wife is in a hotel and my three-year-old daughter has been mentally affected since my arrest ... she has become insane and has been putting her fingers in electric sockets and biting her nails because I am away ... Please! I didn't swindle or cheat anyone," Q.M. told the court earlier.
Al Ghailani said his client tried the stone four times and it worked. "We ask the court to assign a committee of experts to confirm whether the stone protects its wearers against gunshots or not. We are also willing to have witnesses to corroborate Q.M.'s claims before the court," concluded the lawyer who pleaded for his client's acquittal.
The suspect said: "I had a stall at Global Village where I displayed precious stones, including the onyx. I asked the police to try the stone before confiscating it and arresting me. They refused. I brought it with me from Yemen."
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