'Robin Hood' embezzler gave charity Dh100,000

ABU DHABI // Police have arrested a "Robin Hood" embezzler believed to have donated more than Dh100,000 of his ill-gotten gains to charity.

The man, a collection officer in a government department, is suspected of stealing more than Dh644,000. The rest, Dh104,500, was donated to a charity foundation by buying "good doer" coupons.

The 33-year-old Arab, identified as FA, has been in the job since 2009. Over the course of 43 days, he is accused of using computer system crashes to underreport the transaction fees he was collecting, and pocketing the difference.

"After the technical problem was fixed, it was discovered that the suspect was issuing amounts and receipts different from the actual amounts received," said Brig Gen Hamad Al Hammadi, the head of Abu Dhabi CID.

Police said they found Dh540,000 deposited in two bank accounts. FA confessed when presented with the evidence, police said. He claimed he had made the donations to stop the bank noticing how much extra money he had.

hdajani@thenational.ae