Man who returned stolen jewellery fined Dh10,000

An Egyptian who stole Dh9.5 million worth of jewellery and fled the country before he flew back and returned the items said he was tempted by a moment of weakness and that had never been a thief.

In a report published on Saturday, 'Emarat Alyoum' said the man, identified only as Emil, was fined Dh10,000 by a Dubai court but his employer has rejected all attempt to forgive him and drop a one-year ban on his work in the UAE.

“It was a moment of weakness when I suddenly found myself before that big amount of jewellery… I have never been a thief in my life…I simply took it and returned to my country without a prior planning,” Emil told the newspaper.

It quoted him as saying that  it was not only his brother’s slap that forced him to return the stolen items but guilt, adding that he thought about the “big mistake” he had committed on his way to Egypt.

Emil, who had worked for a jewellery shop at a Dubai hotel, flew back on the same day and returned the stolen items after he was slapped by his brother on his arrival in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria.

“At the airport, his brother gave him a slap on the face and warned that his family would disown him unless he returns the stolen items to their owners. A few hours later, the man returned on the same aircraft to Dubai,” the paper said.

It quoted police as saying detectives were investigating the incident at the shop when the thief came in “with tears in his eyes.”

“The man had worked for that shop for nearly five years… he was tempted by the glitter of the gold, so he committed this act and fled the country after just one hour,” said Brigadier Khalil Al Mansouri, director of the detectives and criminal investigation department at the Dubai police.

“When he arrived in Alexandria, his brother was waiting for him… when he told him about the theft, his brother was shocked and went mad… he started shouting at him at the airport and forced him to take the next flight back to Dubai.”

The paper quoted criminal investigation chief Lt Colonel Ahmed Al Meri as saying he was surprised by the thief’s action.

The report on Saturday said the unnamed employer of Emil had turned down all mediation efforts to forgive him and insisted on punishing him with a one-year work ban in the UAE.

Emil said police men at Rashidiya police centre helped him after he returned the stolen items but told him they could not release him after his employer filed a criminal case against him. “My friends helped me in paying the Dh10,000 fine but my employer refused all pleas to let me work somewhere else,” he said.

Emarat Alyoum said Emil’s elder brother had received a phone call from a Dubai police officer thanking him for his “brave stand.”

“I urged the police officer to help my brother find another job in the UAE,” it quoted the unnamed brother as saying.
 

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