Dubai: Men Imprisoned, Fined Dh8,000 For Workplace Theft

Four African men have been arrested and sentenced to three months in prison with Dh8000 as a fine for stealing money from the cafe they used to work in. The theft happened in July this year and the investigation was on when the owner of the cafe in Al Wasl complained that he had lost an amount of eight thousand Dirhams from his safe kept in the workplace. The convicted men would be deported to their homeland once they complete their sentence. 

During the investigation, the officials found that three of them worked in the same cafe, and upon further interrogation, they admitted to the crime. Among the four, one of them reportedly admitted that he told the other three about the location of the keys to the cafe and also the key to the safe.

They Admitted And Explained Their Conspiracy

They admitted that it was a team job and they were looking for an ideal time to rob the place. The location was Whatsapped by one of the defendants to another’s phone and the keys to the cafe were kept outside the place by the last worker who finished his job at the cafe every day. 

The UAE penal code divided theft into two categories; easy theft and aggravated theft. Simple theft is basic by its nature and is seen as a misdemeanor. Theft that doesn’t cause harm or involve any sort of violence is generally seen as simple theft whereas aggravated theft is a more dangerous form of theft that often involves violence and weapons.

According to article 383 of the UAE penal code, any theft that is committed at night or theft committed by two or more people or if the theft is committed with the possession of a weapon or by breaking a door open or climbing a wall or theft by threatening or coercion, etc. will all come under aggravated theft and such crimes can be punished with life imprisonment.

Easy theft is usually punished with imprisonment of six months or one year with a fine. Article 388 defines the theft crime committed by a worker in his work against the employer and this sort of crime can attract a punishment of five to seven years punishment.

But in this case, as the theft amount was only Dh8000 and also the defendants had confessed to the crime, the punishment was limited to 6 months and Dh8000 as a fine for the four accused. 

Theft cases in the UAE have been reported frequently in the past year. In a rather shocking incident, a juvenile seventeen-year-old was arrested last week on multiple accounts of robbery, impersonation, and consuming alcoholic beverages.

Bashayer Issa Al Hammadi, Assistant Chief Prosecutor of the Family and Juvenile Prosecution said that the teen had assaulted a person and stolen his wallet by impersonating a CID officer. He was also under the influence of alcohol during the incident.

According to the accused, he had assaulted the victim after they had an argument over insults they exchanged but denied the robbery charges. Al Hammadi also stated that the accused had been presented at the Department of Family and Juvenile Cases and was charged with crimes of robbery in public and two other charges of impersonation and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

As he was a minor, the court recommended the necessary juvenile punishment in accordance with the articles of the indictment.           

Earlier in November, two Asians were sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of Dh100,000 after they were found guilty of robbing forty cartons of bras from a company in the UAE. The accused confessed to the crime and said that they had broken into the warehouse located at Industrial area 4, Al Quoz using metal scissors.

During the investigation, the Dubai Police inspected the surveillance camera footage on the site and the street with the assistance of a CID team. This helped them identify the suspects who later confessed to the crime. 

In July this year, two Eastern European nationals were arrested at the Dubai airport as they were making an attempt to flee the country after stealing a diamond necklace from a luxury hotel in Dubai.

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The Dubai Police said that the two men disguised themselves with wigs and face masks and also used a glass cutter during the robbery attempt at the hotel’s jewelry shop. The officials did not reveal the name of the hotel for privacy’s sake but mentioned that it was located in the Al Sufouh area near The Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina.

Intriguing details had come out during the investigation as one of the robbers had made a list of potential targets way back in 2020 when he visited Dubai and then later came back in July with his accomplice to commit the robbery.

UAE and Dubai have expanded their residential options this year and with this decision, the law and order of the Emirate nation have also been strengthened to face possible unlawful activities. Dubai is considered one of the top tourist and work destinations in the world with a low crime rate with a safe and clean environment.