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28 March 2024

UAE 'money exchange ghost' gets 7 years

A woman will spend seven years and two months behind bars for a forced attempted robbery at a money exchange centre in Abu Dhabi, threatening to kill its employee and disrupting public security, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court ruled on Monday.

Published
By Wam

A woman will spend seven years and two months behind bars for a forced attempted robbery at a money exchange centre in Abu Dhabi, threatening to kill its employee and disrupting public security, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court ruled on Monday.
 
The case is known in the local media as the ‘Money Exchange Ghost,’ a reference to the woman who wore a black abaya (local traditional dress for women), black gloves and white headscarf when she was arrested by the police.
 
The court convicted the accused, sentencing her to seven years in jail for attempted robbery, threatening to kill others and disrupting public security. An additional two-month jail term was handed down for illegal stay in the country in violation of the UAE Federal Law on Entry and Residence of Foreigners.
 
The accused woman will be deported after she completes serving her jail term.
 
Public Prosecution investigation showed that the woman attempted to rob the money exchange centre after threatening employees with what turned out to be a fake, plastic gun. Even as she threatened the employees at gun point and demanded money, one of the employees managed to overpower her and seized the gun.
 
On the motives behind the robbery, the woman confessed to have planned the crime to settle her accumulated outstanding debts. The woman said she came up with the plan to rob the exchange and executed it the same day.
 
Employees of the money exchange centre told investigators that the accused visited the centre twice. On her first visit, she asked about exchanging 10,000 Euros and US dollars to make sure the money is there at the time of the crime, and then she came in for the second time, entered the centre, closed the door and brandished a gun she had concealed under her clothes.