Representative image for financial fraud.
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A Dubai-based brokerage firm has vanished overnight, taking millions of dirhams from investor funds. A number of investors - including many Indian expats - are left struggling to recover millions.
Gulf First Commercial Brokers worked out of two office spaces in Capital Golden Tower in Dubai's Business Bay till last month, The Khaleej Times reported.
Gulf First operated out of suites 302 and 305 in the tower, employing around 40 staff members who were involved in cold-calling potential clients to promote forex investment. All that is left of what was once a bustling office are a mop in a bucket and a black garbage bag with phone lines ripped out and dust covered floors.
A security guard at Capital Golden Tower was quoted by the publication saying, "They returned the keys, cleared everything out and left like they were in a hurry. Now we have people coming daily asking about them.”
Among the many affected are Indian expats Mohammad and Fayaz Poyyl from Kerala who invested $75,000 with the firm.
Fayaz said, "I came here looking for answers, but there's nothing, no one. Just empty offices. We called every number, but no one responded. It’s like they never existed."
Fayaz recounted how they were persuaded by their relationship manager. “My relationship manager convinced me to make an initial deposit of $1,000. Over time, I was pressured into adding more funds, lured by the illusion of smooth trading and early profits,” he said.
Another person who lost $230,000 in the scheme said he was paired with a relationship manager who spoke to him in his native language Kannada.
“The platform showed small profits at first, and I even withdrew some money — just enough to build trust,” the investor explained. “Then the pressure started. They blocked withdrawals and pushed me toward riskier trades while demanding more deposits.”
Sanjiv, another Indian investor said that the firm pushed clients to invest through Sigma-One Capital - unregulated online platform. The firm repeatedly assured him safe returns and convinced people to invest their life savings.
Mohammad, who lost $50,000, revealed staff used the names Gulf First and Sigma-One interchangeably, claiming they were the same operation.
Police have filed a case against both firms and confirmed that Sigma-One Capital did not have DFSA or SCA authorisation.