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29 March 2024

Tricksters who robbed Dh63,000 jailed

Published
By Eman Al Baik

Three Uzbek visitors were sentenced to three years in jail after a Dubai court found them guilty of robbing Dh63,000 from a bank client.

According to the records, on June 16, the three accused -- identified as MM and SA, both 19, and SF, 35, --- decided to look for a prey amongst bank clients. They started by roaming around banks in a rented car.

When they saw an envelope-holding man coming out of a bank at around 11.45am in Muraqqabat area, they followed him until he entered his car. When the bank client was opening the door of his car, MM approached him and asked him the whereabouts of a hotel.

“Although I denied knowing the location of the hotel, the man jumped into my car and sat next to me. He now claimed that he wanted to exchange dollars and pulled some currency notes from his pocket. I asked him to get out of my car. When I insisted that he should leave my car, he punched me in the face several times with his fist. While he was hitting me, he tried to snatch the envelope which contained Dh130,000 which I had hidden between my legs. I had collected the money for my employer,” testified the victim.

The envelope tore and currency notes fell out in the car. A third attacker then arrived on the scene and started collecting the dropped money from the car along with the other two accused. The attackers then ran away.

The accused saw one of the attackers take a taxi from the opposite side of the road. The 38-year-old Indian victim informed the police who came and arrested one of the attackers who was seen roaming around Muraqqabat police station in a rented car. Searching him, police found a key of a room in a Sharjah-based hotel.

The hotel’s management told police that the accused, who was sharing a room with a compatriot, had left the hotel a few minutes earlier. However, police managed to arrest the accused who was on his way to Dubai.

He admitted to the robbery and told police that after running away from the scene in a taxi, he had called the second accused several times but as his calls were not attended he thought his partner may have been arrested, so he packed his things and left the hotel.

The third attacker was arrested in his house in Fujairah.

The victim recognised the three attackers when shown to him via identification parades.

The convicts will be deported after serving their jail terms.