Dubai A construction site’s supervisor and a security guard landed in trouble when the site’s engineer busted them selling Dh5,000 worth of iron scrap to a pick-up driver.

The Egyptian engineer was said to have coincidentally spotted the Pakistani security guard, M.L., selling the scrap to the Pakistani pick-up driver, N.B., when he walked into the site at the Business Bay area in April.

The engineer headed towards N.B. and asked him what he was doing with his pick-up parked at the site, according to records, and collecting iron scrap.

M.L. told the engineer that the Pakistani supervisor, T.A., had permitted him to allow the driver to load the scrap on N.B.’s pick-up but when the Egyptian discovered that M.L. and T.A. had been selling the scrap, he reported them to the police, said records.

Prosecutors accused M.L. and T.A. of stealing the scrap iron while N.B. was charged with possessing stolen items.

The Pakistani trio pleaded not guilty and refuted their accusations when they showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.

According to prosecution records, prosecutors said the site’s supervisor and guard abused their jobs, stole the iron scrap and sold it for their personal benefit. N.B. was accused of possessing the stolen scrap.

“We did not steal the iron … it was thrown away and nobody was using it or needed it,” one of the suspects told the presiding judge in court.

The engineer claimed to prosecutors that once he arrived to the construction site at 1pm, he spotted an unauthorised pick-up parked inside and someone loading scrap on it.

“When I asked M.L. what he was doing, he claimed to me that one of the company’s engineers had instructed him to allow N.B. to move the iron scrap to another location. I called up that engineer who denied M.L.’s claims. Then I saw the driver [N.B.] using a forklift to move the scrap but I stopped him. Then the guard [M.L.] handed me a phone and asked me to speak to T.A., who told me that he was the one who had asked N.B. to load the iron in his pick-up. Later, T.A. came to the site, I called the company’s managers and owner, and when the suspects admitted that they had been selling the scrap, we informed them that what they had been doing was theft. Then we reported the matter to the police,” the engineer testified to prosecutors.

A ruling will be heard on August 21.