Maid who ‘stole items worth Dh200,000 from sponsor’ is arrested on return to UAE seven years later

The Sri Lankan woman has denied a theft charge at Dubai Criminal Court.

DUBAI // A maid stole items worth Dh200,000 from her sponsor but was arrested only upon her return to the country seven years later, prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday.

The woman is accused of stealing three diamond rings, 10 gold rings, six gold earrings, seven expensive watches, women’s and children’s clothes, bags, shoes, two phones, make-up, food and Dh14,000 in cash in 2010.

The Emirati sponsor said that in June that year she had been abroad with her mother when her sister called from Dubai and said that the maid had rung up a huge phone bill with calls to her home country, Sri Lanka.

“When I returned to my home in Al Qusais, I cancelled her visa and sent her back home on August 13 that same year, but later started discovering several shipping receipts, all of which were made to Sri Lanka,” said the sponsor, who told her sister but said not to tell the maid.

The woman started checking her belongings and discovered a wide range of items missing, so she called police.

Police tracked down one of the shipments and found that the defendant had sent an 80-kilogram package to her family containing clothes, shoes and other items.

They found a receipt issued by Damas to the defendant after she sold the jeweller some of the jewellery she is accused of stealing.

The maid was arrested upon her return to the country after taking up another job as a maid.

The 35-year-old denied the theft charge in court on Thursday. A verdict is expected on April 27.