Men 'steal more than Dh600,000 worth of Oasis water bottles'

The men had been slowly stealing from the water company where they worked for months

Three men stole more than Dh600,000 worth of water bottles from Oasis Pure Water Company in Jebel Ali, Dubai Court of Misdemeanours heard.

The men - an Indian who is at large, a Sri Lankan, 28, and a Pakistani, 32 - worked for the company before coming up with a plan to steal the bottles.

Police began investigations after an employee reported the incident on June 28.

"We ran a stock control check in June to see how much water we have and to keep track of it," said the Egyptian worker.
"The inventory showed a large number of bottles registered as damaged but we couldn't find the actual bottles."
He said he suspected two of the defendants because they worked as stock minders from the store room from where the bottles went missing.
"When we began investigating, the first one fled. The other two said he was the one responsible for the thefts which they said started in March the same year."
The worker said that, on average, the number of damaged bottles never exceeded more than two per cent of the total number produced. But while the Indian defendant worked as the store supervisor, the number of damaged bottles increased to 12 per cent.

Prosecutors said the men would register the stolen bottles as damaged in company records to conceal the thefts.
Court records did not disclose how the men were arrested but they attended court last week and denied charges of theft.

The next hearing is scheduled for December 27.