Five shoplifted Dh133,000 in goods from Outlet Mall

Four relatives and a neighbour, all from Saudi Arabia, are accused of taking the items from a Paris Gallery.

DUBAI // Two sisters, their two cousins and a female neighbour stole clothes, bags, and perfumes worth Dh133,360 from a Paris Gallery shop at the Outlet Mall, a court was told this morning.

The Dubai Court of Misdemeanours was told that the Saudi sisters LN, 24, and MN, 19; their female cousin AM, 30; their male cousin AA, 21; and their neighbour, NF, 26, arrived in the UAE about dawn on May 9.

On the same day, according to records, AA drove them in a Toyota Camry to the Dubai Outlet Mall at 9am, where the women said they decided to steal whatever they wanted without any prior planning.

Each one left the mall with several bags containing a total of 13 handbags, 16 men's shirts, seven pairs of trousers, five pairs of shoes, a woman's jacket and a dress, records show. The cheapest handbag stolen was priced at Dh1,670 while the most expensive one cost Dh7,460.

The women later told police the shopkeepers did not notice the thefts, which they carried out using plastic bags they had on them to hide the stolen things.

AA told prosecutors he did not realise the women were stealing until he saw the number of bags and the expensive goods they had. He said he knew they could not afford to pay for all the items.

He said he remained silent and carried their bags to the car, then took them to a residence in Al Rafaa.

A sales supervisor at Paris Gallery testified that they only discovered the thefts after the women were caught shoplifting in another Paris Gallery in the Mall of the Emirates.

LN confessed that she was in the country two months ago and stole several items from a shop in the Mall of the Emirates. Investigations showed the women had stolen from two other shops.

A verdict will be announced on June 21.