'Lockdown' traps driver who stole $2m from boss

Dubai police went on alert two weeks ago and eventually seized an Asian private driver who stole a whopping $2 million (Dh7.5 million) from his employer just after he withdrew the money from his bank.

The employer, a Dubai-based trader, had put the money in the car and was about to get in when the driver started the engine and sped away.

Police considered the robbery as a “challenge” and decided to do their best to get the driver, who they had first thought to have sneaked out of the country. This prompted them to send police teams to neighbouring Oman and to the driver’s home country but later found out that he was still in the UAE.

“We formed 63 police teams and deployed them at all outlets of the emirate. Some of them moved to nearby emirates while the armed forces were informed in case the fugitive decided to cross the border,” said Brigadier Khalil Al Mansoori, director general of the criminal investigation department.

“The Dubai police handled this case as a sort of challenge. After we found out that the fugitive was still inside the UAE, we decided to intensify our efforts to find him. Finally, we managed to locate his whereabouts at a deserted house in Fujeirah. We raided the house and arrested the man, who still had the money. He had converted it in dirhams to avoid suspicios and was planning to find a way out of the country,” he told the Emarat Alyoum daily.

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