Owner's friend loots, sets shop on fire in Dubai

Two men have been charged with embezzling a cheque of Dh116,000 from a shop in Al Quoz and then setting the place on fire.

According to court records, the two Pakistanis, aged 30 and 26, stole a suitcase belonging to the equipment rental shop in which the owner kept documents, workers' papers and a cheque book. They then started a fire in the place by pouring gasoline all around. They forged the cheque by faking the owner's signature on it and filling it in with the details as they pleased. They also stole equipment worth Dh50,000 from the shop, which include a power generator.

In the Court of First Instance, they faced charges including arson, theft, forgery, fraud and breach of trust.

They had a compatriot accomplice, aged 26, who encashed the cheque for them. He is charged with possession of a stolen property.

The complainant, a 32-year-old Pakistani, said he travelled back home in October 2016. "I had entrusted the 30-year-old defendant with managing my shop and supervising the workers. I gave him the keys and the pick-up so that he could move it instead of it being towed away by the police".

In late November, he received a call from the cashier informing him that two machines were missing from the shop.

"The cashier told me the first accused took the machines and did not return them. But the accused denied having taken anything. I told the cashier to change the locks and informed him that the accused was no longer in charge of managing and supervising the shop."

The owner returned in December and never contacted the accused. "On January 2, 2017, I took my suitcase in which I kept documents, including my cheque book and workers' passports and left them in my car, as I wanted to renew their passports. But when I came back the following day, I found the suitcase was gone," the owner said.

The owner had doubts that the accused stole the suitcase as he had the car keys. He contacted the defendant's mother in Pakistan but she did not get back to him. He also sought the help of a mutual friend and the defendant's sponsor to talk to him into returning the suitcase but to no avail.

Around 11.30pm on the same day, he found his shop engulfed in fire. His first thoughts were that the accused was behind the fire because he had told his mother, sponsor and friends about what he had done.

Source: Khaleej Times