Maid arrested for stealing around Dh500,000

Published: August 09, 2009, 18:03
Maid arrested for stealing around Dh500,000
By Salam Al Amir
Dubai: A Sri Lankan housemaid, in her 30s, has been arrested after stealing cash and jewellery worth around Dh500,000 from different families across Dubai, police said. The woman was earlier convicted in 2008 on theft charges and deported after spending her jail term, but had returned six months later using a fake passport. Last month, police received more than ten reports from expatriates saying that they were robbed by their maid whom they hired after posting an advertisement in the newspaper. Investigations led to many other theft incidents similar in the style, but the families failed to report them to police. The thefts took place in various areas in Dubai like Al Rafa’a, Bur Dubai, Oudh Metha and Al Rashidiya. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the maid following thorough investigations and after searching her residence in Al Rashidiya. A number of the stolen items were recovered from her residence, which were later identified by owners. Col Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department at the Dubai Police, said that the suspect who was not on the sponsorship of her employers, used to steal small but valuable items. She also drugged a family during one of the thefts. “She sprayed the children and elderly members of the family who were present at the time of the theft to carry out her plan,” he said. The suspect confessed that she chose her victims from among newspaper advertisements and gave her employers a photocopy of different passports to prevent authorities from tracking her.