Dubai: An accountant told a court on Wednesday that he stole from his workplace at Dubai Duty Free [DDF] Dh22,800 that he needed to pay for his sick father’s urgent operation.

The 32-year-old Moroccan accountant, who worked at DDF’s perfumes section, was said to have entered the washroom and pretended to be using the loo before he took the cash and hid it in his personal bag earlier this month.

Then he handed over the proceeds of selling perfumes that day to his colleague and asked the latter to give the proceeds to the collection department since he was in a rush, said records.

Then the Moroccan booked a trip to his homeland at 7pm, according to records, before the authorities arrested him at Abu Dhabi Airport the same evening shortly before he boarded the plane.

Prosecutors charged the accountant with stealing from his workplace.

“Yes Your Honour. I was mistaken and I stole the money. But I was forced to take the money because I needed it for my father’s urgent operation in Morocco,” the 32-year-old contended before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

The suspect pleaded before presiding judge Ahmad Mohammad: “I admit that I was at fault. I ask for mercy and forgiveness. I had been working at the Duty Free for five years and I was named the best employee several times … I had never committed a mistake at all. I am sorry for what I have done, but I was in a desperate situation and my sick father needed to undergo an operation. My parents were short of that amount and I took the exact amount. I swear to God, I have learnt from my mistake … please forgive me and have mercy on me.” The suspect was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that he finished his eight-hour shift and took the proceeds with him to the washroom.

He then entered one of the cubicles and took the money out and hid it inside his personal bag then handed over the remaining of the proceeds to his colleague.

The Moroccan claimed to prosecutors that he asked his colleague to hand over the proceeds to the collection department and pretended that he was in a hurry to leave.

He booked a ticket to his country and went to Abu Dhabi where he was arrested at the airport before boarding the flight.

An Egyptian security officer at the Duty Free testified to prosecutors that they alerted the police about the stolen money shortly after they discovered the deficit between the sales records and proceeds of the day.

A ruling will be heard on May 14.