Emirates flight attendant stole cash from passengers, court hears

Crew member accused of theft while brothers attended to ill father

An off-duty pilot had to be restrained after acting disorderly on an Emirates flight to Dubai from Madrid. Randi Sokoloff / The National

A flight attendant stole cash from two passengers while they assisted their ill father, a court heard.

The crew member is accused of taking Dh9,000 and another $2,600 from the wallets of two Emirati brothers after they left their seats to attend to the man during an Emirates flight from Thailand to Dubai on June 21.

Dubai Criminal Court heard that the pair and their mother had accompanied their father on a trip to Thailand for medical treatment.

The brothers, aged 35 and 43, reported their money being stolen to flight attendants. When the plane landed aircrew called the police.

"My father felt tired and my brother and I went to him in business class leaving our belongings, including the wallets, back on our seats. Then we returned to find the money missing," said the youngest son.

Police carried out a search of the plane but found no evidence of the theft.

But a fingerprint on a Dh100 note left in one of the wallets was found to be a match for the defendant.

The accused was later arrested but denied any wrongdoing.

“However when we told him about his finger print, he admitted willingly,” said an Emirati policeman, 38.

The accused told officers that when the incident was reported to the police, he became scared and flushed the stolen cash down the toilet at Dubai International Airport the same day.
The accused denied a theft charge at the court. The next hearing will be on November 11.