Abu Dhabi, Aug 31 (The National): A woman who wrote a Dh350,000 cheque to her former fiancé to pay off a debt, took him hostage so she could steal it and stop him from cashing it.

AM, an Emirati, was sentenced yesterday to six months in jail for trying to extort Dh350,000 from the Syrian businessman, YH, by luring him to her house and locking him inside.

Having stolen the cheque, she then called the police in an attempt to get him deported before he could recover it, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard.

The court heard that when YH arrived at the house AM sat him in the living room and told him she would call the housemaid so they could eat dinner.

“I heard noise outside so I looked from the window and saw her driving away,” YH told the court last week.

He then heard the Emirati owner of the house, FKH, talking to police on the phone, and shouting “somebody is in my house”.

When the police arrived, FKH saw the officers talking to YH and attacked the Syrian, punching him in the face.

For that reason, the court heard, police arrested FKH, who asked AM to come to a police station to testify against YH.

Prosecutors charged the woman and the landlord with taking the man hostage after listening to telephone calls between the two showing they conspired to lure him to the house.

FKH was sentenced to six months in jail for his part in the conspiracy.