11 suspects jailed for 3 years for stealing Dhs600,000 in Sharjah

Sharjah Criminal Court sentenced 16 defendants to penalties including imprisonment, fines, and deportation from the country, on charges of seized Dhs600,000 from an employee of a tax office in Taawun in Sharjah. According to the case documents, the defendants were apprehended after the police received a report about the robbery of Dhs600,000 from an Arab accountant working in a tax office.

Security teams then arrested a number of defendants and referred them to the Public Prosecution, where they confessed to the charges against them.

The main defendant confessed during the trial sessions that he had been planning the crime for over a month by monitoring the victim's departure times from work, tracking him from the moment he left until he reached the exchange office to deposit the money.

He added that he agreed with 4 other defendants to devise a meticulous plan to seize the money, by distributing roles. He asked each person to bring two other individuals to play roles in monitoring the victim, and others to drive two different vehicles and monitor the location.

He added that on the day of the crime, as the victim left carrying the money bag from the workplace in Al Taawun area, two forcibly took him into a vehicle, which was followed by another, to an industrial areas.

As soon as they arrived, he added, they snatched the bag and fled after releasing the victim.

However, surveillance cameras recorded the crime, and security teams succeeded in apprehending them after tracking the number plates of the vehicles used in the crime.

The Sharjah Criminal Court sentenced 11 out of 16 defendants to 3 years in jail, fined them Dhs100,000, and ordered their deportation. 5 defendants were fined  Dhs200,000 and were deported also, for charges of robbery by force, forming a gang for money laundering, and engaging in financial activity without a licence. Meanwhile, the court ordered the acquittal of two defendants.