Dubai: A domestic help in Dubai has been sentenced to six months in jail for stealing three expensive watches worth Dh640,000 from a well-known Emirati footballer’s house.
The Dubai Court of First Instance heard that the 36-year-old Bangladeshi defendant, who worked as a chef in the victim’s house at Bur Dubai, stole a small safe from inside the bedroom in May 2020. The safe contained a rare watch worth Dh420,000, besides two other watches worth Dh200,000 and Dh20,000. The defendant also stole a bag worth Dh10,000.
The court ordered the defendant to pay a fine of Dh650,000. He will be deported after serving his jail term.
“The defendant used to do the laundry, iron my clothes and put it in my closet. I was surprised when my safe went missing. I suspected the defendant as he was the only one who had entered my room,” said the 29-year-old Emirati footballer.
The victim confronted the defendant, asking him to return the safe or he would report the incident to the police. The defendant asked him for some time before he could return it.
“Later, I discovered that his fingerprints matched the one in the closet where the safe was,” he added.
The victim reported the incident to Dubai Police who arrested the defendant.
A 40-year-old Emirati policeman testified that the defendant denied stealing the safe, claiming that he was a chef and did not enter the bedroom.
“After matching the fingerprints obtained from the crime scene, the defendant admitted to stealing the safe. He claimed that he couldn’t open it and so he threw it in the bin outside the house,” said the policeman on record.
It is not clear from the records what happened to the safe or whether the watches had been recovered.
Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with theft. The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.
