UAE | Crime
Five arrested after jeweller duped of ornaments worth Dh18.4m
CID recovers part of the stolen items from a hotel room.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:19 January 21, 2009
- The American jeweller reported to the police that two Arabs had managed to steal the jewellery from him.
- Image Credit: Supplied
Dubai: The police have arrested five members of a gang, comprising of Arab and European nationals, who had duped a jeweller of ornaments worth more than Dh18 million.
On January 13, Dubai Police received a complaint of a robbery of jewellery worth Dh18.4 million from one of the jewellers working in an outlet at Wafi mall.
The American jeweller reported to the police that two Arabs had managed to steal the jewellery from him. A European jeweller, believed to be part of the gang, had also managed to con him, the American said.
The American jeweller, identified as S.R., had delivered a consignment of jewellery to the European jeweller, identified as K.A., as part of a business deal. However, K.A. later told S.R to take back the consignment since he said he could not find buyers for the same.
However, the day K.A. was supposed to return the jewellery, he changed the venue for the delivery twice, which made S.R. suspicious.
After finally coming to an agreement on the delivery location, two men came and handed over a bag, apparently containing the jewellery, to S.R., who told them to wait until he had checked the contents. But, according to S.R., the men ran away and he found the bag was empty.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested five members of the gang within hours after receiving the complaint from S.R. One of those arrested confessed to the CID about the details of the plot, saying he came to Dubai following a request from K.A.
The CID also managed to recover part of the stolen jewellery from one of the hotel rooms rented by the gang.
The case has been referred to the Public Prosecution, even as a search is on for the rest of the gang members.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Court of Cassation is currently looking into an appeal from a 33-year-old Serbian convict, who is serving a 10-year jail term for his involvement in the Dh14.7 million armed heist at the Graf jewellery store in Wafi.
In November 2008, the Dubai Court of Appeal had upheld a 10-year sentence against the Serbian. His 52-year-old compatriot visitor was cleared of charges of aiding and abetting the 33-year-old.
The UAE authorities are seeking to extradite two other suspects, who had carried out the daring robbery in April 2007, following their arrests in Italy and France recently.
In April 2007, the Court of First Instance had jailed a 32-year-old Croatian man for five years, followed by deportation, for his involvement in a daring heist of watches worth Dh20 million from Ahmad Seddiqi and Sons outlets in BurJuman Centre and Wafi mall in 2006.
In 2007, the Dubai Court of Cassation upheld a three-year jail term for a Yugoslavian woman, found guilty of aiding the Croatian.
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