Khaleej Times

Men who stole Dh1.8M get 3-year jail terms

- Amira Agarib amira@khaleejtim­es.com

sharjah — Two men were sentenced to three years in jail by the Sharjah Criminal Court for stealing Dh1.8 million from a flat after one of them disguised as a woman wearing an abaya and niqab.

The court presided by judge Mahmood Abu Baker found one of them guilty for stealing from an apartment in Sharjah after he disguised using a woman’s niqab (veil). Before the disguise, he had changed the locks in cooperatio­n with the other man.

A third accused was fined Dh5,000 for hiding Dh875,000 of the stolen money.

On October 12, 2017, the central operations room of the Sharjah Police received a call about the heist. The forensic experts rushed to the site. When they examined the crime scene and carried out the initial probe, it turned out that the apartment had been opened in a very profession­al way and the criminals had not left any trace of evidence.

A team was formed to identify and arrest the perpetrato­rs of the crime. The team swung into action and zeroed in on one person suspected of having links to the robbery. The second suspect was arrested

I entered the apartment building during the day wearing abaya and niqab to steal the money. I opened the flat with a duplicate key.” Main defendant

by the cops within two hours of the incident and part of the money was recovered from him. The Sharjah Police then nabbed the first defendant, who was staying in a hotel in Dubai, with the help of their Dubai counterpar­ts.

The main defendant admitted before the court that he entered the apartment during the day wearing abaya and niqab to steal the money.

The 35-year-old Arab disguised himself as a woman and robbed the money from his boss’s apartment in Al Taawun area in Sharjah. He entered the flat by opening it with a duplicate key which was given to him by his accomplice, who was also an employee of the same firm.

Following the confession, both the men were charged with theft in Sharjah Criminal Court. They were convicted on Monday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates