Money exchange employee embezzles Dh642,000, gets jail for absconding

A former employee at a money exchange office has been sentenced in absentia to six months in jail by a Dubai court on the charge of embezzling Dh642,000 from his workplace.
 
The Dubai Court of First Instance found the 34-year-old teller, an Asian, guilty of stealing the big amount while on the job in the branch.
 
He is believed to have put an amount of Dh641,791 in a bag which he kept in the safe. He then took it out and kept it with his personal belongings until he finished his shift at the time the branch closed.
 
Two other Asians, who were accused of helping and abetting for possessing the stolen cash, have each been sentenced to a six-month imprisonment. All the three defendants will be deported after completing their jail terms and paying a Dh1,000 fine each, as per the court ruling.
 
The theft was reported on January 24 to Jebel Ali police station.
 
An Indian manager said that the main accused stole Dh624,000 while on the job in the branch in a shopping centre in Jebel Ali. "He embezzled the money on January 24 and absconded the next day. I was off on that day and I learned he took his passport from the safe."
 
When the manager went to the branch, he found out the funds kept in the desk drawer, of which the defendant was in charge, were also gone.
 
The teller was captured on the surveillance cameras taking the money from the drawer at 9:30pm, keeping it on the counter for about one hour and then putting it with the files.
 
"He took it out at the end of his shift that is around midnight. He had no prior conflict or dispute with the office nor did he file any lawsuit against his workplace. He did not return any of the money he embezzled," the manager told the investigating prosecutor.
 
During investigation, it was known that the teller fled the UAE on January 25. One of his accomplices also left the country on January 26.
 
An amount of Dh225,000 was recovered from an accused. Another Dh315,250 was retrieved from another accomplice
 
The court ruling has been appealed.
 
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Marie Nammour

mary@khaleejtimes.com