Dozing cabbie 'did not see $22,000 on back seat'

Dubai: A taxi driver has denied stealing $22,000 (Dh81,000) which a passenger forgot in his cab and claimed that he "didn't see the money until he woke from his sleep."

The 40-year-old Pakistani driver, K.M., denied the theft charge before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.

Denied

When the judge asked him why he failed to instantly report that the African passenger had left the money behind in his taxi, the suspect said: "Your honour I didn't have any intention of stealing the money... I only saw the money in the back of my cab after I woke up."

A Yemeni policeman testified: "The suspect could have returned the money during a period of 12 hours... but he didn't and this implies that he was intending to steal it."

An Emirati sergeant stated: "An African national reported that he forgot the money in the cab before identifying the driver at the transportation company where he worked.

"At first he denied seeing the money, but later K.M. confessed that he put it under the front passenger seat. He claimed that he didn't return the money because he went to sleep."

A verdict will be given soon.