Gang charged with robbery using air-freshener
Accountant allegedly attacked about to deposit Dh860,000 from shop at bank
Dubai: Four men have been accused of assaulting and robbing an accountant of Dh860,000 after spraying air-freshener in his eyes before driving off in a getaway car.
Prosecutors accused the four Syrian men, N.A., 24, and S.I., 32 — both truck drivers, H.F., 43, a merchant, and Y.G., 22, a salesman, of robbing the accountant, an Indian national, in Al Qusais before fleeing the scene.
An Indian man, T.P., 31, has also been charged with possessing Dh370,000 out of the stolen money.
"I was the only one who carried out the robbery; the rest of the suspects were not involved in the heist," N.A. contended when he was produced before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
S.I., H.F. and Y.G. pleaded not guilty before Presiding Judge Jasem Al Beloushi.
"I had possession of the Dh370,000 but I had no clue that it came from a theft. I am not guilty sir," T.P. argued in courtroom seven.
According to the charges sheet, the Syrian suspects exploited the fact that the accountant, M.S., was alone to attack him. Prosecution records said N.A. sprayed air-freshener in M.S.'s eye and attacked him shortly after he parked his car in front of a bank. N.A. then grabbed the bag containing the money and tossed it into a getaway car that S.I. drove. H.F. and Y.G. took on lookout duties during the crime.
Prosecution records
"I collected Dh860,000 from the mobile phones shop where I work and went to deposit the money in the bank. I parked my car and went out. When I took off my glasses to wipe them, a man sprayed some substance straight into my eyes. I tried to prevent him from grabbing the money bag. Then he repeatedly sprayed the same substance in my eyes before he snatched the bag and they all ran away," M.S. told prosecutors.
An Indian eyewitness testified that he spotted a man dressed in Pakistani dress mugging the victim around 9:30 am. The eyewitness provided the police with the plate number of the escape vehicle.
An Emirati policeman said S.I. was the first to be arrested after being identified based on the plate number of the car.
