asked to pay compensation

Woman who stole Dh20M

abu dhabi — A bank employee, who allegedly embezzled Dh20 million from her workplace, has been asked by a lawyer representing the bank to pay a ‘temporary compensation’ to his client.

The 33-year-old Emirati woman is on trial at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance for embezzling the amount and spending it on a man who had promised to marry her. The court earlier heard that the woman took advantage of her position as the bank’s head of accounts section to commit the crime.

Court documents stated that the woman allegedly spent the stolen cash on a 26-year-old Arab man in paying his bank loans, buying him luxury cars and special number plates, buying expensive gifts like branded watches and clothes, and paying for his luxury trips to Europe, including business class air tickets.

During the latest hearing, Issa Abdul Latif, the lawyer representing the bank, presented a list of civil claims against the woman and the two other defendants: Her fiancé and his brother. Abdul Latif, told the court that the defendants caused huge losses to the bank as they embezzled the funds. He demanded that the defendants pay temporary civil compensation to his client.

The woman’s lawyer, however, argued that his client had been detained for more than 18 months. He requested that she be released because she had “served enough time in jail”.

The court earlier heard that the fiancé was previously married and reportedly lied to the main defendant about marrying her. He has been charged for conniving with the woman to embezzle funds and exploiting her.

Prosecutors said the police recovered a part of the stolen cash by seizing the gifts like vehicles that were bought using the misappropriated funds. The woman had admitted in court to embezzling the funds from her workplace from August 2016 to April 2017.

She expressed regret for committing the crime, saying that she made a “big mistake”.

The woman said her fiancé sought help from her, claiming his father’s company had a lot of debts. He reportedly promised to pay the money back.

The fiancé and his brother, however, denied asking her for the money. The man earlier told the court that the woman gave them cash out of her own free will.

The trial was adjourned until September.