Storekeeper charged with theft

abu dhabi — A storekeeper stood trial in an Abu Dhabi court, accused of stealing old equipment worth Dh10,000 from his employer’s warehouse.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the Asian man, who was in charge of the warehouse, took away the equipment from the store and sold them out as scrap to dealers without permission from the owner.

The employer filed a complaint against the man after discovering that old equipment worth Dh10,000 were missing from the store.

Internal company investigations revealed that the equipment were taken away by the storekeeper and sold them to scrap dealers.

The man’s employer said the worker didn’t get permission to sell off the equipment. He also didn’t declare the cash at the company. Prosecutors charged the man with stealing from his workplace.

He denied the charge when he appeared in the court on Wednesday.

“I am not guilty of the charge because I didn’t steal anything from the warehouse,” said the man.

“I was told by one of my bosses to sell off the old items as scrap materials. It was a verbal communication and it’s hard for me to produce evidence to support this.”

The storekeeper also told the court that he had just delayed depositing the money from the sale of the old equipment to the company account but he didn’t intend to use it for himself. The man urged the court to clear him of the charge, saying that he was innocent.

The trial was adjourned until September 13.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com