Four work colleagues have been sentenced in Dubai Criminal Court for attempting to steal Dh2 million in cash from their colleagues.
The court was told that the quartet – three from Sierra Leone and one from Cameroon – knew that the large sum of money was due to be distributed to the company's employees in Jebel Ali.
The audacious robbery was masterminded by a security guard who planned to steal the cash from the account's office.
He used a Taser to subdue two female accountants in the office and stole the bag containing the Dh2 million.
A second work colleague – also a security guard – fought off the attempted intervention from a male receptionist.
“It was around 12.31pm when the suspect, who is a security guard in the company, entered our room. He used the Taser gun several times on my back and neck before hitting my colleague with his bare hand,” the victim from Vietnam told the court.
“He threatened to kill me before grabbing the bag and leaving. He knew it is the time when the company employees will come to collect their salaries.”
Two of those involved in the audacious plot kept the front gate open to allow the others to escape.
One on-duty security guard and the male receptionist chased the pair on foot and retrieved the money after a struggle. Two suspects escaped with Dh300,000.
The company's receptionist testified that he saw them escaping and chased them with another security guard.
“We managed to pull the bag, which was opened, and the money spread on the ground. They collected Dh300,000 and escaped,” the male receptionist in court records.
The security guard, having recovered Dh1.7m of the cash, contacted Dubai Police.
Police detained the main suspect at Dubai Airport two days later as he was trying to escape from the country and later apprehended the other three.
Dubai Police recovered Dh36,000 from the stolen Dh300,000. All four were ordered to pay a total fine of Dh264,000.
The two security guards were sentenced to five years, while the other two employees were sentenced to three years in jail for criminal abetting.
They will be deported after serving their sentences, Dubai Court heard.
