A TikTok influencer has been arrested in Dubai after posting a satirical video mocking wealthy Emiratis for lavish spending sprees at a luxury car showroom.
Hamdan Al Rind, who describes himself as a ‘car expert’, is accused of ‘misusing the internet’ by posting propaganda that ‘stirs public opinion and harms public interest’.
The video shows the prankster wearing a kandura, the long white robe typically worn by Emirati men, sunglasses and a surgical mask.
Dressed in traditional Emirati attire, he entered the luxury Super Car Rental Dubai showroom with two men trailing huge wads of cash.
Dominant, who is a UAE resident of Asian descent, first approaches a female worker and asks ‘Where do you sit?’ before tossing him cash to ‘go buy coffee’.
TikTok influencer Hamdan Al Rind (pictured) has been arrested in Dubai after posting a video of himself posing as a wealthy Emirati inside a luxury car showroom.
The video shows the prankster walking into the showroom wearing a kandura, the long white dress typically worn by Emirati men, sunglasses and a surgical mask.
The dominant person throws money at the showroom staff and asks them to buy coffee
He then confidently approaches the showroom owner Ahmed Mansoor and asks what the most expensive car he can buy is.
When asked what his budget is, the camera pans to a sea of bank notes and quips: ‘Small budget. I don’t have much but what do you have?’
The owner then tells him the most expensive car is a £458,500 (AED 2.2m) Ferrari SF90 but is seemingly having fun with Dubai’s lavish lifestyle, with Tiktoker joking: ‘I need a more expensive brother. I don’t need this. It will run my driver.’
When the owner took him around the showroom and told him that everything was for sale, Mr Al Rind left to throw money at another member of staff ‘for a coffee’.
Within seconds, the influencer – who has 2.7 million followers on TikTok – then went on a fake spending spree for four expensive cars, including an Audi R8, a Mercedes, a Rolls Royce – ‘and a Red Bull’.
When the owner told him he could keep the Red Bull at home, Mr Al Rind slapped more money into his hand and said: ‘No problem, keep the cash.’
Since posting the satirical video, Mr Al Rind has been accused of spreading content that fails to adhere to media content standards and demeans Emirati society.
The influencer has been accused of ‘misusing the Internet’ for ‘propaganda that stirs public opinion and harms public interest.’
Mr Al Rand asked for the most expensive car and the owner offered him a $600,000 Ferrari SF90
When the owner told him he could keep the Red Bull at home, Mr Al Rind slapped more money into his hand and said: ‘No problem, keep the cash.’
Federal prosecutors ordered him into pre-trial detention to fight rumors and electronic crime.
He was arrested after the comedy clip surfaced on social media by the Federal Investigation Office of the UAE Attorney General’s Office.
Authorities described Mr Al Rand as an ‘Asian national’ living in the United Arab Emirates.
The public prosecution has also summoned Mr Mansoor – the owner of the showroom featured in the footage.
Mr Mansoor said he believed the man was an Emirati citizen.
‘He came in, he wanted to shoot a video, I said ‘yes.’ If it hadn’t happened in my showroom, it might have happened somewhere else,’ he told The Associated Press.
‘Some people thought it was offensive, some people thought it was funny, everyone has their own opinion.’
‘I thought he understood the law,’ added Mansour.
It is unclear exactly when Al Rind was arrested or what punishment he may face. It is not known if he has hired an attorney.
Just last month, a UAE resident of Arab nationality was jailed for five years and fined £104,000 for breaching hate-speech laws by posting a video targeting men and domestic workers.
Prosecutors ordered his arrest in the wake of the ‘buzz’ created by the posting of offensive videos,’ WAM reported.
UAE is home to some of the richest people in the world. (File photo of a man visiting a car showroom in Dubai)
A vaguely-worded cybercrime law enacted in January 2022 heavily restricts expression and assembly, criminalizing virtually any form of political opposition and anything that could harm the reputation of the UAE or its leaders.
15 human rights groups have called for the law to be repealed or amended.
Mr Al Rind, who runs his own car dealership in the UAE, has previously posted satirical videos – including one that went viral showing a wealthy Emirati buying cars for each of his four wives – video tutorials on how to fix vehicles. In addition to
The United Arab Emirates is home to some of the world’s richest people, and Dubai boasts the world’s tallest skyscraper, a ski resort inside a shopping mall, and luxury areas built on man-made islands shaped like palm trees and maps of the world.
Emirati citizens, who outnumber expatriates, enjoy abundant social benefits financed by the country’s large petroleum reserves.
Some Emiratis have posted videos in recent years of themselves splurging on high-end cars and watches, driving through deserts and driving convertibles with cheetahs and lions in the passenger seat.
But authorities are more sensitive to such portrayals by foreigners. Laws against hate speech and public incitement sharply target anything that incites political, religious or ethnic differences in the cosmopolitan country, which portrays itself as a beacon of tolerance and coexistence.
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry announced an investigation into another video featuring two men in a high-end sportscar stranded on a desert road. The video shows a female Emirati police officer arriving at the scene and assisting them by holding a gas pump on the ground and refilling their tanks.
‘There is no gas problem in our country,’ he says.
In response to Mr Al Rind’s video, the UAE Public Prosecution said in a statement: ‘To fight rumors and electronic crime the Public Prosecution has ordered the arrest of the owner of a video clip that spreads inflammatory propaganda with the potential to stir public opinion.
‘Federal public prosecution to fight rumors and electronic crime has ordered pre-trial detention of an Asian national pending investigation.
‘He has been charged with a number of offenses including using the internet to spread inflammatory propaganda with the potential to stir public opinion and harm public interest.
‘He is also accused of promoting content that fails to adhere to media content standards and demeans Emirati society.
‘This is based on what the Federal Investigation Office of the State Attorney General’s Office observed on social media platforms, specifically a recorded video clip showing the accused wearing Emirati clothes inside a luxury car showroom.
‘He has two men with what appears to be a considerable amount of money.
‘The defendant engaged in conversation with the owner of the showroom, arrogantly requested to buy a car worth more than two million dirhams and distributed bundles of money to the showroom staff in a manner that revealed stupidity and lack of appreciation for value. money
“Such acts promote a false and degrading mental image of the citizens of the country, ridicule them and thereby incite and arouse public opinion to the detriment of public interest.
‘The public prosecution has also ordered to summon the owner of the car showroom where the video clip in question was filmed.
‘The Public Prosecution urges social media users in the country to consider legal and ethical guidelines in the dissemination of their media content.
‘They should also respect the social characteristics and authentic values of Emirati society, which are based on moral commitments in all aspects of behaviour, in order to avoid legal consequences.’
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