Woman in the dock for stealing Dhs3,500

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

An Asian saleswoman, 33, hid in a corner of the shop she was working for until all the employees left and stole around Dhs3,500 from the cash boxes.

According to the official records for the case that Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday, a partner of the shop stated that a worker told him in the morning that a person had stolen the contents of the three cash boxes and there were no signs that they were broken open.

The partner called the police. The recordings of the surveillance cameras showed that an unknown woman in a black cloak and veil carrying a handbag entered the shop at midnight, went to the upper floor and hid in a corner.

After the employees had left, the woman wore gloves that were in her handbag and went to the water closet in the same floor. She waited there until it was 1.30am, then went down to the cash boxes on the ground floor. She soon moved away for fear she would be seen by passersby.

She waited until less people were seen and went again to the cash boxes. She emptied two of them and stopped by the third, which needed a username and a password that were known only to authorised people. She, however, was able to open the cash box and steal its contents.

The defendant was found to be the thief because she used to work in the shop but ran away for continuously creating trouble. Recently, the Dubai Public Prosecution referred two African businessmen to the court for stealing about Dhs3,500 and two computers from an American school.

According to case papers, the school principal testified she received a call from the school accountant on the morning of Sept.10 while she was at her home, telling her that the iron safe in the accounting office was broken open.

The principal added she asked the accountant not to enter the office and then she contacted the school owner and the police.

Surveillance cameras showed that someone tried to remove the cameras but failed and could only change their direction. In the meantime his entire face was photographed and he was seen stealing about Dhs3500 from the iron safe, in addition to two computers.