Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court on Monday started hearing a case in which an Asian maid, 40, was accused of stealing Dhs7,000 from her sponsor’s house and running away.

According to the Dubai Public Prosecution’s investigations, the victim stated that the maid had been working in his house for five years, adding that while he was at work one day, he received a phone call from his wife who told him that the defendant was not in the apartment. The wife added that the maid took all her stuff which meant that she had run away.

When the victim returned home, he found that the Dhs7,000 which was put in a box in the sitting room was missing. The victim said he had put the money in the box for his wife to buy the things she needed during the day.

Separately, the Dubai Public Prosecution referred a gang of four people including one who is still at large to the courts of law on charges of bringing 11 Asians on the sponsorship of people inside the UAE without their knowledge, using forged documents.

According to the official records, one of the victims who had been brought complained to the police about his sponsor after failing to reach him. Following intensive investigations, the police met the sponsor who stated that he knew nothing about this issue and denied he brought anybody on his sponsorship.

Further investigations led to the first defendant and a trap was set to arrest him. A police source contacted the defendant and asked him to have an employment visa issued for him. The source was asked to bring a personal photo and Dhs4,000 and meet the defendant near a Tas’heel centre.

The first defendant, accompanied by the second defendant, came at the agreed time and they were arrested accordingly. Asked about the charge levelled against him, the first defendant confessed that he was involved with two other defendants in forging documents. He admitted that they used to take out visas on the sponsorship of people inside the country without their knowledge against sums of money. The first defendant’s role was to receive documents and money from people and deliver the same to the second defendant and hence to the third defendant before being delivered to the fourth defendant, who is still at large, to be forged.

Talking about how they obtained the required data and documents of the alleged sponsors, the first defendant said he used to deal with mobile phone shop owners for providing him with passport copies against Dhs100. He then would visit a Tas’heel centre with the forged documents and apply for the required visas.