Italian man on trial for human trafficking; Singaporean woman allegedly tricked into sex work in Dubai
The woman allegedly thought she was going to marry the man, but wound up doing sex work to raise funds and contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore.
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SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman who met an Italian man on the dating app Tinder later agreed to travel with him to Qatar via Dubai, thinking he was a wealthy man who wanted to marry her.
However, she was later allegedly told that she needed to show US$10,000 as proof of funds before she could enter Qatar.Â
According to the prosecution, the Italian man arranged for her to provide sexual services in Dubai and collected her earnings daily, until she contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
The woman's mother lodged a police report and the case came before Singapore's courts.
Achraf Arjaouy, 31, is on trial for one count under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act for recruiting the woman by means of deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Dubai.
He took the stand on Friday (Aug 22).Â
The court heard that Achraf came to Singapore in March 2021 and met the woman, whose identity is protected by gag order, on Tinder a month later.Â
They met at a hotel and later travelled to Dubai on an Emirates flight on Apr 21, 2021.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutors David Khoo, David Menon, Tay Jia En and Ariel Tan, Achraf told the woman during a "whirlwind courtship" that he wanted to marry her in Qatar, where his wealthy family was from.
The woman was "overjoyed" and agreed to travel with him to Dubai en route to Qatar, but did not know that Achraf never intended to marry her or take her to Qatar at all, the prosecution charged.
THE PROSECUTION'S CASE
The prosecution's case is that as soon as Achraf knew that the woman was looking for a serious relationship, he positioned himself as the man she had been looking for.
"He was romantic, charismatic and attentive. He told her that he was the son of a wealthy Qatari family, a pilot for Qatar Airways, and was looking to get married," said the prosecution.
However, none of this was true, and Achraf did not intend to marry the woman, they added.
Achraf allegedly told the woman to travel with him to Qatar and transit in Dubai for a few days, pairing the invite with an ultimatum that their relationship would be over forever if she refused to travel with him.
When in Dubai in April 2021, the pair stayed in the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates for a few days, before moving to a serviced apartment at Hyatt Regency Creek Heights Residences.
Achraf allegedly told the woman to show US$10,000 as proof of funds before she could enter Qatar, knowing she did not have the money.
The prosecution said he capitalised on the woman's confusion by "embarking on a campaign of physical and psychological torture", committing acts of violence against her and subjecting her to "humiliating and invasive sexual acts", degrading her and threatening to mutilate her.
Achraf allegedly reminded the woman that they could enter Qatar and be married once she could show the funds.
The prosecution's case is that Achraf's intention was to recruit the woman for sexual exploitation in Dubai.
Around late May 2021, he allegedly told the woman, who was aged 30 to 31 at the time, that she should engage in sex work to raise the funds.
The woman was revolted by the idea, said prosecutors, but Achraf was "persistent" and she gave in, believing it was the only way for them to be married in Qatar.
Achraf allegedly arranged for the sex work - taking intimate photos of the woman, creating profiles for her on escort websites, soliciting customers and booking a hotel.
He collected her earnings every day, eventually forcing her to fend for herself and look for her own customers while still collecting her earnings, said prosecutors.
The woman stopped engaging in sex work in mid-September 2021 only after she contracted an STD.
Prosecutors said chat logs showed the woman confronting Achraf about the sex work and the STD, which he did not deny.
In the WhatsApp exchanges, Achraf asked how she had contracted the infection, insisting it was "impossible to get it with condom" since he had told her to use one.
In the chat logs, the woman repeatedly referred to his commitment to marry her in Qatar, with Achraf affirming it, said prosecutors.
The woman's mother sought police assistance in April 2021, shortly after the woman went to Dubai.
Not long after arriving, she asked her mother to transfer US$10,000 to her.
The woman returned to Singapore in late November 2021. Achraf was arrested in Singapore in November 2023 for an unrelated offence, which is pending against him.
He is represented by Mr Joel Quek and Mr Samuel Teo from WongPartnership.
On Friday (Aug 22) afternoon, Achraf responded to questions from Mr Teo in court.
MESSAGES FROM WOMAN
Mr Teo took him through a series of messages the woman sent him in March and April 2022.
In the messages, the woman told Achraf that he had given her "so many problems in Dubai", and that "you made me sleep with people for money".
Asked what he understood by these messages, Achraf said he "didn't understand anything". He added: "I really didn't know what she was doing in Dubai."Â He also told the court that he did not see the woman from May to September 2021.
Mr Teo showed Achraf messages from the woman, including: "If you love me, you won't ask me to sleep with others for money and put (me) into s*** in Dubai."
Another message read: "When you ask me to sleep with other men, you call this love?"
In response, Achraf said he did not understand anything that the woman was saying, but he was "desperate" to get help from her to pay a law firm.
He said she had given him a debit card, but would block it if he did not answer her calls. He added that he would answer her but just hang up.
In another message, the woman wrote: "You choose to abandon me when I was in Dubai. I was in deep s***, you just torture me. I will not forgive you. Whatever you did was a sin."
Achraf said the woman was "very aggressive" and "really didn't care about the rules in Dubai since Day 1", referring to Sharia law.
He said that when they were together in May 2021, he took care of her and "I just did it out of my heart".
Achraf also said that he had told the woman that "maybe we can get married one day, but I want to settle down in Qatar".
He said: "I like Qatar because of the tradition and it's a very quiet country."
The defence asked Achraf why he did not clarify with the woman in response to her messages and tell her that he did not know what she meant.
"Basically I just wanted to get help from her and I didn't have any interest in what she was talking," he said.
Asked how he survived in Dubai, Achraf said he was given money by other women. He also told the court that after coming to Singapore, he met a housewife with two children through Tinder and had a sexual relationship with her.
The trial continues.Â
If convicted of recruiting a person by deception for sexual exploitation, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$100,000 and given up to six strokes of the cane.
