Dubai: A policewoman was given a three-month suspended prison term after a court convicted her of abusing her duty and taking Dh4,300 from a wallet which a passenger accidentally dropped at the airport.
After the 32-year-old Emirati policewoman pleaded guilty and admitted that she had returned the money, the Dubai Court of First Instance imposed the sentence.
Pronouncing yesterday's verdict, Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir fined the accused — who worked as a first corporal at Dubai International Airport — $900 (Dh3,310), in addition to Dh1,000, the amount which she took.
"I am guilty. I did take the money, but your honour I returned all the amount. I am sorry for what happened," M. B., the defendant, said.
Prosecutors charged M. B. with abusing her duty and taking money from the wallet of an Indian businessman.
Records show that the businessman accidentally dropped his wallet while being searched at the airport.
The 26-year-old Indian, H. K., testified that the incident took place at the airport during a trip to Iran.
"I asked my wife to report the matter to the police. When I returned to Dubai, I received a call from the airport's police informing me that they [had] found my wallet.
"When I picked it up, they told me that it had been stolen," he said.
When questioned, the defendant claimed that she found the wallet at the lost and found section. "I opened it and took the money without anyone noticing.
"After duty, I went to the Union Cooperative and changed the dollars to dirhams — I intended to give the money to my brother because he owed his friend Dh4,000," she claimed in her statement.
The primary judgment is still subject to appeal within 15 days.
