Dubai: A security guard and his two accomplices have been jailed for seven years each for stealing Dh5 million from a money transfer company.

The 39-year-old Kenyan security guard was commissioned to accompany coworkers in an armoured truck, collect money from trading companies, commercial establishments and money exchange houses across Dubai and then deposit the cash in ATMs or the company’s headquarters.

After several visits to a gym [one of the money transfer company’s clients], the security guard met with a 30-year-old countrywoman, who also worked as a guard, and both became friends.

Once she understood the nature of her countryman’s job and learnt that he transferred between Dh30 million and Dh50 million in the armoured truck, the woman suggested that they embezzle Dh5 million and share the money.

The woman defendant masterminded the heist and instructed her countryman on what to do and how and where to meet her after he embezzled the money box.

The man then took a money box when he and his coworkers were collecting money from their clients in a mall in Deira.

He pretended that he needed to use the washroom before he jumped into a taxi and went to BurJuman, where he took another taxi and headed to Shaikh Zayed Road.

As pre-planned, the guard took a fourth taxi and went to Al Ghurair Centre where he met with his countrywoman defendant.

She took Dh3 million, handed the remaining Dh2 million to her countryman and left the country.

Meanwhile, the guard’s co-worker discovered that he had disappeared with a money box and called their supervisor.

Police apprehended the 39-year-old defendant from his flat in Sharjah.

Following his arrest, he told police interrogators that his countrywoman had masterminded the theft and incited him to do it. He said his 31-year-old countryman housemate took around Dh1.7 million from his share of the booty and that he was left with Dh300,000.

On Wednesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the two Kenyan men and their countrywoman for seven years each and ordered them to repay Dh4 million to the money exchange house.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi ordered the security guard and his countrywoman to jointly pay a Dh5 million fine.

The woman and the 31-year-old defendant, who remain at large, were sentenced in absentia.

According to Wednesday’s ruling, the defendants will be deported after serving jail terms and paying the fines.

The male accused pleaded guilty in court.

“I embezzled the money but I do not remember how much exactly. The woman convict took some of the money and left and the remaining I had kept it in my bag. My housemate took the money from my bag without telling me and absconded,” he told the court.

The 39-year-old defendant’s ruling remains subject to appeal, while the absconders are entitled to a retrial.