DUBAI // A fabrics shop salesman lost an appeal against a three-month jail sentence after he was convicted of stealing Dh300,000 from his workplace, then sending it to his family in China.
Dubai Criminal Court had last June convicted M A, 26, from China, of theft.
Prosecutors said that on March 19 this year, M A took Dh250,000 from a drawer at the shop in Naif area, where he worked for his compatriot businessman W C. He then took Dh50,000 from a fabric sale that he made that day.
The 32-year-old businessman said in court records that he discovered the theft two days after it happened. He said he locked the drawer that contained the cash on March 19 and left for his apartment, but when he returned two days later, the cash was missing.
W C called police, who later informed him it was M A who took the cash from the drawer and an additional Dh50,000 from sales.
W C confronted M A, who confessed to him.
“He told me that he was in desperate need for the money and wired it to his family in China,” said W C. He added that after a few days, the salesman had returned the stolen money.
The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld his three months in jail.
salamir@thenational.ae