Salesman confesses to stealing diamond jewellery

A 32-year-old Filipino jewellery salesman faces jail followed by deportation after he confessed to stealing a piece of diamond jewellery worth Dh30,000 from the Madinat Jumeriah branch of Liali Jewellery, where he worked.

Judge Fahmi Munir Fahmi of the Dubai Criminal Court adjourned the case to October 21 yesterday after RF admitted his guilt and pleaded for mercy.

Prosecution witness Mohammed Jaweed, another salesman at the store, said while he was on duty, RF made an inventory of the store's stock, checked them against a list he possessed and left.

The next day, RF called Jaweed and said some items were missing. When the store's closed-circuit camera was referred to, RF was seen putting the diamond piece under some papers, which he moved to another counter where he took the diamond and put it in his pocket.

In his testimony, Sheikh Alaa, a public relations representative at Liali Jewellery, said he received a phone call from AS, a partner in the Madinat Jumeriah store, informing him of the robbery of a Dh30,000 diamond piece. When Alaa went to the store and interrogated the employees, RF admitted to the robbery and expressed his readiness to return the item on the condition that the police would not be informed.

In another case, a dressmaker yesterday admitted stealing Dh88,000 from the store where he worked.

Bangladeshi MF, 26, told Dubai Criminal Court that he took the money because he found himself in a difficult financial situation.

He had initially denied stealing the cash when confronted by the store's owner, Mohammed Joni Al Rahman. But when the police were called and officers from the criminal laboratory arrived to take fingerprints he confessed to the theft and showed them where he had hidden the banknotes.

Al Rahman, who owns Ohood Dressmaking and Embroidery, told the public prosecution that the affair dated back to July 18 when MF failed to turn up for work. Al Rahman contacted MF, who said he was sick.

When the store owner returned home that evening he found Dh88,000 was missing from a wooden box where he kept the store's takings.

He immediately suspected MF as he was the only member of staff who had not attended work that day.

The money was hidden under a water reservoir at MF's home, but Dh5,000 was missing. MF said he had sent the Dh5,000 back home to Bangladesh.

The case was adjourned until October 21 and Judge Fahmi Munir Fahmi ordered that the defendant should be held in custody until then.

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