Three accused of stealing Dh300,000 sportswear

Dubai Three men have been accused of stealing 12,420 sportswear outfits worth Dh300,000 from a trading company and reselling it for a slashed price.

Prosecutors charged a 27-year-old Pakistani salesman, M.Q, of stealing the sportswear outfits from the trading company where he worked.

A 32-year-old Afghan driver, G.K, was charged with aiding and abetting M.Q. by transporting the stolen items to a 46-year-old Indian businessman, A.B.

The latter was accused of possessing the stolen outfits.

M.Q. and G.K. pleaded not guilty and refuted their accusations when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday.

Meanwhile A.B. failed to appear before Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad in courtroom four yesterday.

‘Less than half price'

An Iranian store supervisor testified that one of the shopkeepers informed him that the warehouse's gate was left unlocked and that the sportswear outfits were stolen.

"The shopkeeper phoned me one Saturday morning and informed me that our warehouse in Al Qusais was robbed," he said. "When I reached the warehouse, I realised that the lock disappeared and door was left half open. We discovered that 120 boxes that contained nearly 12,420 outfits were missing. The boxes were stacked near the backdoor.

"The culprits also stole five huge bags that contained sportswear outfits as well. The estimated value of the stolen outfits was around Dh300,000 and it belonged to the trading company," the store supervisor claimed.

Prosecution records cited M.Q. as admitting that he stole the boxes and sold them to A.B.

The salesman also confessed that A.B. was aware that the sportswear outfits were stolen and bought them for less than half the original price.

"G.K. kept the outfits in his possession for one night before he transported them in his truck to A.B.," M.Q. claimed to the prosecutor who questioned him.

Meanwhile G.K. claimed before prosecutors that the salesman asked him to transport the stolen goods for a payment of Dh1,700.

Moreover the businessman admitted that he was aware that the outfits were stolen and he bought them for Dh40,000.

Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad adjourned the case until A.B. is legally notified about the next hearing on May 7.