Dubai: A husband and his brother-in-law were accused of posing as policemen using phony IDs and stealing by force a businessman’s jewellery worth Dh100,000 and Dh12,000 cash from his flat.
Prosecutors charged the 29-year-old Sudanese husband, T.A., and his 29-year-old Romanian brother-in-law, K.A., with using phony police IDs and a paper which they claimed to be a search warrant before they robbed the Indian businessman’s jewelry and cash.
T.A.’s 33-year-old Romanian wife, L.A., and a 25-year-old Moldavian saleswoman, A.D., were accused of forming a stakeout team and watching the entrance of the building while the men carried out the heist.
“I admit that I entered the flat… But I only did so to retain the passport of K.A.’s mother. I did not steal anything. It is not true that we claimed to be from the police or that we used any phony police IDs. I have no clue that the paper that we showed to the claimant was forged,” claimed T.A. when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
His wife and brother-in-law both pleaded not guilty and denied their charges.
Meanwhile A.D. entered an innocent plea before Presiding Judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the suspects jointly stole by force different jewelries worth Dh100,000 from the Indian businessman, D.J., flat plus Dh12000 cash.
Chief Prosecutor Khaled Al Zarouni asked the court to implement the toughest punishment applicable against the defendants.
Al Zarouni accused the defendants of ganging up against the victim and distributing the roles amongst them during the heist.
The four suspects headed to the flat located in Al Mankhoul. The two women were said to have stayed downstairs and observed the building’s entrance meanwhile T.A., and K.A. went up stairs. They used forged police IDs and impersonated policemen before they presented a paper claiming it was a search warrant.
D.J.’s countryman workmate, J.T., was present with him at the time when the men deceived them using the phony IDs and forced them into the flat where they roped them with plastic buckles. Then the two male suspects searched the flat and stole the money and jewelry.
“They suspects wore Emirati dress [kandoura and ghutra]. They claimed to me that my father was wanted for being involved in a money laundering case. They showed me a paper that had my father’s name written on it and it was stamped with Dubai Police’s stamp. The paper was in Arabic and English. They roped our hands and asked us to stand facing the wall… I only realized that they were thieves after they left the flat and I discovered that the jewelry was missing, immediately I reported the police,” claimed D.J.
T.J. confirmed D.J.’s statement.
An Emirati first lieutenant said they tracked down the suspects after the surveillance cameras exposed the plate number of the car that was rented by the Moldavian woman.
The suspects’ lawyer told the court that the Indian businessman dropped his complaint against the defendants. The trial continues.
