DUBAI // Three men pleaded guilty in Dubai Criminal Court yesterday to stealing electricity for their villa after their supply was cut off.
RM, 27, an electrician, HR, 35, a labourer, and AM, 43, a tailor, all from Bangladesh, are accused of tapping into a Dubai Electric and Water Authority (Dewa) power line in Deira's Hor al Anz district.
The municipality cut off power to their villa after it was found to be in violation of the one-villa-one-family rule, which states that villas in Dubai cannot be shared by more than one family.
A fourth defendant, MR, 55, a driver, did not appear in court yesterday.
The men were arrested on June 14 after a Dewa engineer investigated the power line following a tip-off from a passer-by.
"I saw the cables dangerously cut and illegally supplying the villa, which was supposed to be sanctioned by Dewa," the engineer told prosecutors.
The authority contacted police, who arrested the four men.
The court adjourned the case until October 4 so that MR could enter his plea.
The men face a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
amustafa@thenational.ae
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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
