Jewellery shop employee who stole Dh4m in gold jailed

DUBAI // A jewellery shop employee who stole more than Dh4 million in gold filings by hiding small amounts in his lunch box every day for two years was today sentenced to six months in jail.

The Dubai Court of First Instance also ordered the deportation of RR, a 33-year-old from the Philippines, following the completion of his prison term.

Prosecutors told the court that he had stolen 30 kilograms of gold filings from the shop between September 2009 and September 2011, when he was employed there as an assistant technician.

An audit at the company uncovered the shortfall and the manager reported the matter to police.

The employee admitted to the court that he had stolen some of the gold, but not the amount prosecutors claimed. He told investigating officers at the time of his arrest that he had been stealing the filings for two months - not two years.

An Emirati police officer told the court the employee had been selling the filings to another gold shop and that when police arrested him there were filings in his lunch box.

Prosecutors said the employee had transferred some of the money he made from the sales and that transfer receipts were found in his apartment.

salamir@thenational.ae