DUBAI // Four men who stole almost Dh5 million by ambushing an exchange house vehicle have been sentenced to ten years in prison.
Masked men carrying sticks stopped the vehicle before drugging its driver and his colleague and stealing the Dh4.9m he was carrying to a customer in Souq Murshid.
The Criminal Court heard the Iranian driver helped plan the ambush, and that his three compatriots drugged him during the ambush so as not to arouse police suspicion.
The driver tipped off the other three that the exchange house would be moving a large money transfer on August 22 last year. He agreed to take a route not covered by security cameras.
A car driven by the other three men pulled in front of the exchange house vehicle, blocking its path. Two men carrying sticks jumped out and drugged the driver and his colleague before running off with the money.
The driver, MQ, 32, confessed to his part in the scheme.
He and the other three men SM, 48, AG, 25, and WJ, 30, were found guilty of armed robbery, sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to be deported after serving their terms. However, the other three men remain at large.
According to court records, some of the stolen money was transferred to Iran by the driver, while the rest was found in the possession of three Iranian businessmen who are facing a charge of possessing stolen money.
salamir@thenational.ae
