Victim lost Dh55,000 in hit-and-pickpocket

A 27-year-old Ethiopian visitor HMA allegedly hit a pedestrian and, with the help of a fugitive, stole the Dh55,000 that was in his pocket, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The victim, AAG, a Pakistani public relations officer, 36, testified that at around 8am on February 27, his boss in a freight services company asked him to encash a cheque of Dh50,000 and deposit the amount in the company’s account to another bank.

The manager also gave him about Dh5,000 in cash to transfer the whole amount via an exchange company to a client.

“I encashed the cheque and put the amount in my pocket along with the Dh5,000 and proceeded to the bank where the company has an account.

“When I was near the bank, an African hit me intentionally with his body and then kicked my right leg.  Trying to find out what happened, another African came from my back and hit me again and then the two disappeared.

“When I got into the bank and put my hand in my pocket, I discovered that the money was missing. So I reported it to the police,” he testified.

First Corporal Ahmad Mohammed testified that there had been an increase in the number of pedestrians, mostly bank clients, being robbed in this manner.

“We suspected a car driven by an African. We asked the driver to stop but as he did not, we followed him. While fleeing, his car hit a pavement and he stopped.

“While arresting him, we came to know that his features matched his description by the victim. The accused denied hitting and robbing the complainant. However, the victim recognised the accused when shown to him during an identification parade. Checking his finger prints, we found out that he had a criminal record of similar robbery cases,” the police officer testified.

The accused later admitted to hitting and robbing the victim with another person’s help and dividing the money between them, testified the officer.

The court will reconvene on April 28.
 

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