'CID' rob Dh20,000 from Dubai hotel at knife-point

A prostitute’s boyfriend assigned four friends to act as CID officers to force a hotel in Dubai’s Naif area to hand over her passport.

The four men also threatened the receptionist with two knives and stole Dh17,605  from the hotel’s safe.

On November 30 last year at around 1.45am, the hotel’s receptionist informed the police that three men had entered the hotel and were headed towards his desk.

“When one of them came to the reception desk, I picked up the phone to call the manager. They prevented me from calling him and even moved me out of the reception. They pretended to be CID officers and asked for passports of the visitors.

“One of them searched the drawers and took Dh2,400 from it.  Another pretended calling the police and gave the headset to me to talk to a ‘police officer’. The ‘officer’ asked me to hand over the passports to his men.

“One of the men opened the safe while another gestured to me to look at his hand. I saw two knives in his hand and he said: ‘Shut your mouth’.  At this time, the first one took Dh17,605 that was in the safe. Then the three left,” the hotel receptionist testified.

Police tested a mineral water bottle and a cigarette lighter that one of the accused had left at the scene and found out that the DNA they had matched that of AH.

Police identified the attackers via the footage of the camera at the reception. The accused had criminal records with the police. The accused were arrested in a house in Al Quoz area except for MA, mastermind of the crime and the prostitute’s boyfriend, who is still at large.

Searching the house, police confiscated six swords, a hunting rifle and bullets. The three -- two jobless Emirati brothers WH, 20, and AH, 22, and AI, 36, a Comoros national -- admitted to robbing the hotel on the request of MA whose girlfriend worked as a prostitute and lived in the hotel. They also admitted to dividing the looted money amongst themselves.

The Prosecution submitted to the Court a CD that carried the camera recording and the confessions of the accused.

The Court will reconvene on July 15.
 

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