Thief gives part of loot to charity

Abu Dhabi: A man who robbed more than half-a-million dirhams from his workplace gave away a large amount to charity, police said.

The Arab man, who worked in a public sector organisation, deposited money from customers into his personal bank account. He had stolen Dh644,500 and spent Dh104,500 to buy charity coupons, police said.

But the man was not a modern day Robin Hood. He had bought the charity coupons to deflect suspicion of the huge amounts of money landing in his account, police said.

The man had been working in the fee collection section for the past two years. Police said he had reported to his superiors an amount lower than what he collected over 43 days.

The 33-year-old said a technical glitch had prevented him from registering the full amount. He was arrested before he could spend the rest of the money.