Dubai: Three drivers who worked for a money transfer company have been accused of conspiring with four others to steal Dh14 million from an armoured truck, heard a court on Thursday.
The money transfer company’s security manager was alerted by two Nepalese money transfer guards that they lost contact with the armoured truck’s Pakistani driver, who had dropped them outside Al Ghurair Centre to fill an ATM machine in August.
The manager rushed to the location and in the meantime he asked the guards, according to records, to search for the truck in the vicinity and keep on calling the driver’s mobile phone that had still been ringing then.
Once the manager and the guards found the armoured truck parked at a nearby alley with its engine on, and the 37-year-old Pakistani driver missing, they reported the matter to police.
On-site investigations revealed that the Pakistani driver had moved from his seat to the rear secured area of the truck [where the money is placed] and disconnected the wires of the surveillance cameras.
Police also examined the surveillance cameras fixed on the surrounding buildings and the footage showed the 37-year-old and his two countrymen drivers, 30 and 39, carrying four moneybags to a car and then driving away.
After combing the surrounding area, police found the car left in a poorly lit area and CCTV footages picked up from that vicinity showed the three drivers jumping in to a taxi to flee from that location.
Primary police interrogations and tip offs from informants led police to Sharjah Industrial Area, where the trio had been hiding.
Police raided the place and apprehended the three drivers and four other Pakistani men who provided logistical assistance to them.
Prosecutors accused the three Pakistani drivers of abusing their jobs at the money transfer company and stealing Dh14 million in cash.
The remaining four suspects, aged between 33 and 48, were charged with aiding and abetting the three drivers.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the suspects had been tasked to transfer moneybags from different banks and commercial establishments in Dubai between August 24 and 25.
The 37-year-old and 30-year-old suspects pleaded guilty and admitted that they stole the moneybags when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
Meanwhile the 39-year-old suspect entered a not guilty plea.
The quartet, which was accused of abetment, refuted accusations and pleaded not guilty before presiding judge Urfan Omar.
A police lieutenant told prosecutors that the company’s security manager reported them about the heist.
“Crime scene investigators and fingerprint experts examined the armoured truck. The truck’s CCTV footages clearly showed how the 37-year-old driver had disconnected the cameras and by doing so he became the primary suspect. On-site investigations revealed the involvement of two more persons … also four others were involved in aiding and abetting the suspected trio,” he told prosecutors.
The 37-year-old driver was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that they stole the money and the other four suspects were supposed to help them in transferring the stolen money to Pakistan.
The trial continues.
