'Bitcoin of the Middle East' Scam Lands Canadian Expat in Dubai Jail

A Dubai-based Canadian expat has been arrested for peddling an allegedly fraudulent "Sharia-compliant" cryptocurrency and a host of other get-rich-quick schemes.

As Gulf News reported on Oct. 30, Aziz "Com" Mirza had cultivated for himself a reputation as an entrepreneur, mentor and Instagram influencer.

He now sits in Al Awir jail after a complaint was filed with the Dubai Police by a UAE resident allegedly defrauded of $150,000 in one of Com's schemes.

Com targeted a global audience, including retail investors from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Greece.

In just one of his schemes - dubbed the Leverage Programme and promising investors guaranteed "Financial freedom" within a year - Com is thought to have raised £4 million.

Most of the funds from investors around the globe were wired to the bank account of a Dubai-based company owned by one of Com Mirza's brothers, with huge amounts allegedly used to pay for personal expenses.

Com and another of his brothers, Rafaqat "Rocky" Mirza, used U.K.-based online platform Muslim Entrepreneur Network to promote their schemes, spanning cryptocurrency, real estate and education.

"Com's Instagram posts are now all about food and gym".

"I was familiar with Com Mirza through the internet marketing community where he was considered an authority. I had personal chats with him via Facebook and I sent money to his personal Paypal account,".

"We spoke for an hour. It wasn't until this year that things started going down. Com's Instagram posts are now all about food and gym. It's been a sad experience for us. Until today there's been no official word about what has happened with Habibi Coin.".