Dubai: A salesman has been accused of pouring benzene on the cash counter of a money exchange house and threatening to set it on fire when he tried to rob the place.
The 52-year-old New Zealander salesman, M.W., was said to have walked into the exchange house armed with a bottle full of benzene and a lighter in May.
Prosecutors said the defendant sprinkled benzene all over the counter and in the direction of the tellers, then threatened to set the place on fire after asking for money.
Records said M.W. rushed out of the place and ran away once the fire alarm system was activated..
Jail wardens did not bring him to the Dubai Court of First Instance where he was scheduled to enter his plea on Sunday.
According to the charge sheet, M.W. was charged with attempted robbery and intentionally endangering the tellers’ lives.
A Filipino supervisor testified to prosecutors that the defendant approached the counter and sprinkled benzene from the bottle that he was carrying. “Once I walked out of the fax room, I saw the suspect waving the lighter with one hand and sprinkling benzene with the other. He was shouting that he wanted money. Then he sprinkled benzene near one of the tellers, but the staff did not get wet because of the protective glass. The suspect had a bag which he kept open and asked them to fill it with money. As soon as one of the staff pressed the emergency alarm button, the suspect ran away,” the Filipino claimed to prosecutors.
The fingerprints that were lifted from the alleged crime scene matched those of M.W., according to records.
The defendant was cited admitting that he entered the exchange house and sprinkled benzene as he intended to take money.
He was also quoted admitting that he purchased the benzene bottle from a nearby petrol station, parked his bicycle outside the exchange house, which he entered wearing a mask.
The trial continues.
