12 men in dock for stealing luxury cars
abu dhabi — Twelve men accused of stealing luxury vehicles from rental firms stood trial in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the men — three Emiratis working for a government department and nine Arabs — were caught late last year after the police received complaints from rental car firms. The firms said the defendants took their luxury vehicles on rent, but never returned them.
Official court documents stated that the stolen expensive vehicles included a Lamborghini, Range Rover, Mercedes, Nissan Patrol and others. Six of the vehicles were stolen from rental car firms in Abu Dhabi, while three others were stolen from Dubai.
Prosecutors had charged the men with theft and forging official documents. The three Emiratis were also charged with abuse of public office. All the men had denied the charges levelled against them.
On Tuesday, the lawyer representing the men said there were “contradictions in the statements of the prosecution witnesses” with regard to forgery and formation of an organised gang.
“I am requesting that my clients be granted bail so they stay out of jail as we wait for a ruling in the case.” The lawyer argued there wasn’t “sufficient evidence to convict them of the charges”.
The defendants also continued to deny the charges against them. The first, sixth and ninth defendants have requested for two weeks time to submit their new defence memoranda to the judge.
Police investigations had suggested that after renting the vehicles, the men would take them to the Emirati men working in a government department, who helped them in forging customs documents.
“The men changed two digits in the vehicle’s serial number before they issued a customs certificate for the car,” said a police officer. “The gang then exported the luxury vehicles as new ones using false documents.” The men then split the revenue earned from the sale of vehicles.
The trial was adjourned until November 12 for the verdict.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com