Dubai: A maid was cleared of stealing valuables from the safe of her sponsor, who had claimed that she saw a photograph of her wearing a diamond necklace posted on Facebook.

The American sponsor had alleged that when she returned home from work in March, 2016, she discovered that her 28-year-old Filipina maid had run away.

The woman claimed that she was unsure yet that the absconding maid had stolen her missing jewellery and valuables until she allegedly saw the maid had posted photo of herself wearing the Dh5,000-worth necklace on Facebook.

The American woman informed the police, who arrested the maid in July 2017 after having stayed on the run for 16 months.

When she appeared in the Dubai Court of First Instance, the 28-year-old Filipina strongly refuted her sponsor’s allegations and said she did not steal anything.

Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the court acquitted the Filipina of stealing a necklace worth Dh5,000, bracelet worth Dh3,700, Dh600 in cash and a perfume worth Dh600.

“I did not steal anything from them … they asked me if I wanted to stay working for them, but when I told them no and asked them to fly me back home … they got angry and decided to complain. I didn’t take anything,” she told the court.

The American woman alleged in her complaint that she realised that she had been robbed once she saw the suspect’s image of her wearing the stolen necklace on Facebook.

“She left the house … when I visited her Facebook page and saw her wearing my missing necklace, I realised that she had robbed me,” she claimed to prosecutors.

A Lebanese manager testified to prosecutors: “I once saw my co-worker [American] wearing the necklace at our workplace … when police showed me the suspect’s Facebook page, I told them it was the same necklace that I had seen my co-worker wearing.”

Records said the suspect told police interrogators that she had purchased the necklace from a jewellery store in Satwa.

However, when police visited the store, the owner said they did not sell that type of necklace, records said.

The Filipina maintained that she did not steal and the primary court cleared her for lack of strong evidence.

The ruling remains subject to appeal within 12 days.