Seven accused of stealing valuables worth Dhs2m

Aya Aldeeb, Staff Reporter

The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal has begun the trial of seven defendants of various nationalities accused of stealing money and valuables worth Dhs2 million.

During the hearing, one of the defendants denied the accusation of taking the stolen jewelries to goldsmiths to be smeared and turned them into bullions.

On interrogating another defendant about his continued stay in the country despite the expiry of his residency without renewing it, he admitted it. While a third defendant who was staying in the country illegally, confessed that he had infiltrated into it through the borders.

The lawyer assigned to defend the defendants requested to postpone the hearing to get the opportunity to review the case and prepare the defense. Therefore, the Court decided to adjourn the verdict for a later session.

Recently, the Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a gang of five Asians to six months in jail to be followed by deportation on charges of robbing Etisalat bill payment kiosks.

According to the official records, the gang members committed several robberies in the same method until they were caught by the police while stealing Dhs3,000 from a kiosk.

As per the testimony of the victim and witnesses and the confession of one of the defendants, the manager of the shop in which the robbery took place received a call from one of his employees that an Etisalat bill payment kiosk in front of a supermarket had been robbed. The shop’s surveillance cameras showed that the defendants who committed the robbery used a pickup for moving the machine but could not be identified.

Investigations into the incident led to one of the defendants who confessed that he and the other defendants used to rob such kiosks, adding that last time they uprooted a kiosk by iron scissors and transported it to a nearby farm where they divided the money among them before they threw the kiosk away in a nearby dump.

After searching the farm, the tools used in the robbery were seized.

Recently, a gang of five unemployed men specialising in grabbingvaluables of Asians spotted using free WiFi around a Dubai building were jailed for one year plus deportation.

The Asian defendant, 28, colleague, 21, countryman, 23, and two accomplices with the help fugitives zeroed in on a Bangladeshi cleaner at the building in Frij Murar at around 10:30pm on May 19, he complained.

They robbed his two Nokia mobiles worth Dhs120, a Dhs450 Samsung, his flat’s key and Dhs500. They went for a Bangladeshi worker, mugged him and decamped with his Dhs80 Nokia, Dhs435 Samsung and Dhs320.