Maid on trial for cash, jewelry theft in Dubai

Dubai - The stolen jewellery was seized and used as evidence by the public prosecution.

A housemaid has been charged in court after she allegedly stole Dh44,000 in cash from her female sponsor, in addition to jewellery and other valuables.
The 38-year-old Filipina stands accused at the Court of First Instance of stealing cash and jewellery including three bracelets, four rings (worth Dh3,000), a necklace, three watches, a pair of earrings and a wallet from her Emirati employer. She denied the charge at the court.
The maid's alleged wrongdoings started from early this year until she was exposed on May 24. The theft incidents were reported to Bur Dubai police station.
The complainant, 37, said during investigation that she used to keep her money in a safe in her bedroom. "However, at some point I started to notice that the money was decreasing. I thought at first it could just be me forgetting that I had taken part of it."
On May 24, she noticed that a significant part of the amount kept in the safe was missing. "I felt perplexed then as I was the only one who held the safe keys and kept them in a secure place that none knew about."
When she filed a complaint at the police station, she said that she had doubts that the defendant was the thief. "She was the only maid in my house who was allowed to enter my bedroom to clean it," the complainant said.
When the police searched the maid's room, they found gold jewelleries belonging to the sponsor's family members, under her bed. "The cops also found earrings and watches of my family members in the maid's closet. She stole all of it from us," the complainant told the prosecutor.
A policeman, who went to the sponsor's house in Al Satwa after the complaint, said that the maid denied having anything to do with the money theft. "She claimed she was unaware of the jewellery beneath her bed. One of the sponsor's relatives identified one the pieces that it was hers and she had lost it."
Forensics was then called to the scene to lift fingerprints and the maid was taken into custody. The stolen jewellery was seized and used as evidence by the public prosecution.
A money deposit receipt, found in the maid's possession, was also seized. The sponsor said that the money was her family's. The trial has been adjourned to August 6.
mary@khaleejtimes.com  

• Dubai