Airport guard tries to swallow stolen $100

Published Tuesday, March 19, 2013

By Eman Al Baik

HAJ, 33, a Bangladeshi security officer at Dubai International Airport, allegedly tried to swallow a 100-dollar note which he had stolen from a passenger’s handbag during inspection, causing a flight to be delayed by about half an hour, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The passenger’s husband WMH, 48, American pilot, testified that on June 20 at around 2.30am he was on his way to USA on holiday with family on an Emirates flight.

“My wife was ahead of me at the boarding gate. She was shouting at the inspector and asking him to return the money he had stolen while he was checking her handbag which contained $5,000. She told me she saw a $100 note in his hand which he dropped behind the desk and then bent down to pick it up and hid it in his trouser pocket. I asked the inspector to return the money but he denied taking it, so I went to meet his senior. We all went to the inspection room where the senior did not find anything. But I insisted on reporting the incident to the police.

“Before the police arrived, the inspector said he wanted to drink some water. I accompanied him to the water cooler at the end of the hall. As we were walking towards the cooler, I saw him putting something into his mouth, so I prevented him from taking water and asked him to spit out what was in his mouth but he refused.

“Police arrived and one of the officers saw him removing something from his mouth and putting it into his pocket. He was taken to the inspection room and the policeman found a damaged $100 note in his pocket. He begged us not to lodge a complaint against him but I refused. Then I had to leave as the flight was already delayed by half an hour,” he testified.

Policeman Bader Ibrahim testified that the accused claimed that the $100 note fell from the passenger’s bag while he was inspecting it. He claimed that he was confused when he picked up the money but dropped it when some passengers saw him picking up the note and again picked it up. He claimed that he did not return it because he was scared, the policeman testified.

The accused confessed to the crime.

The court adjourned for verdict until March 31.

Image by www.shutterstock.com

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