Italian man convicted of trafficking Singaporean Tinder date for Dubai sex work
Achraf Arjaouy targeted the victim by pretending to be a wealthy pilot from Qatar who wished to marry her
A court has convicted an Italian man of human trafficking by tricking a Singaporean woman into sex work in Dubai, after rejecting his defence arguments attacking the victim.
Achraf Arjaouy, 31, had claimed trial to one count of recruiting a person by means of deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Dubai. The victim’s identity is protected by a gag order.
The prosecution’s case was that Arjaouy had targeted a woman he met on Tinder by pretending to be a wealthy pilot from Qatar who wished to marry her.
They argued that Arjaouy told the woman, aged 30 to 31 at the time, to show US$10,000 as proof of funds before she could enter Qatar. He asked her to provide sexual services in Dubai to raise the money, and collected her earnings daily until she contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
While the idea of engaging in sex work revolted the woman, she eventually agreed as she thought it was the only way to marry Arjaouy in Qatar.
The woman stopped engaging in sex work in mid-September 2021 after contracting the STD. She returned to Singapore a few months later.