Verdict upheld: Couple robs wife's employer

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of five years in prison awarded to a Lebanese couple by the lower court and found them guilty of attacking and robbing the wife’s Saudi employer.

The court also upheld the deportation of SW, 38, and his wife SS, 40, after serving their jail term.

The husband, SW, 38, was charged guilty of taking AS, 75, Saudi businessman, by surprise and spraying a tear-inducing liquid in his eyes and punching him until he fell on the floor.  He then sat on his chest and tied his hands and legs with a plastic rope before robbing Dh134,000, $11,010 and 266 Malaysian ringgit, a Rolex watch worth Dh20,000 and the keys of his villa.

His wife, SS, was found guilty of abetting her husband after instigating him and planning the crime.

According to the records, the victim told investigators that on March 15, he was in his house with SS who worked for him.

“She went out with the Filipino driver to bring some things. Later, I heard a sound coming from the garage. When I went out to see what it was, a man surprised me by spraying something in my eyes. When I held the attacker’s shirt, he punched my forehead and my nose which bled. I shouted for help and the attacker was also shouting ‘Where is the money? Where is the money?’ I got scared and I pointed at my wallet which was in a desk nearby. I was on the ground and the attacker was sitting on my chest. He took Dh3,000 from the wallet. Then he took out plastic ropes from his pocket and tied my hands and legs and dragged me to my office in the villa,” AS said.

The accused demanded keys from the victim who did not reply. Then the accused started searching for the keys of the safe which he found on a small table near the door. The accused opened the safe and stole Dh140,000 and $11,000. Then he snatched the Rolex watch from the victim’s hand before running away.

The victim called his friend who informed the police.

SS admitted that she called her husband in Lebanon and encouraged him to rob her employer who kept money in the house.

Her husband arrived in Dubai on a visit visa to rob her employer on March 14 and tried to flee the UAE via the airport. He was arrested before he boarded the plane and the robbed money was seized from him.

The couple planned that she will go out with the driver and she will keep the villa’s door open so that the husband could get in and attack the victim who would be alone in the house, she admitted to the police.

“When I got out of the house with the driver for shopping at around 1pm, I sent my husband an SMS. I also told him that the safe is in the office which is on the ground floor and that the key is on a small table near the room,” the wife confessed.

She returned home after her husband informed her about the completion of the robbery via SMS. He also told her that that he had to punch her employer who resisted him.

When he appeared before the court, the husband admitted to the accusation and told the jury that they did not want to hurt the man. They only wanted to get his wife’s dues from him.

“I only sprayed him with pepper powder dissolved in water. The spray was not a tear-inducing material. I did not want to punch or rob him. It was not in the street, it was in his house. My wife had worked for him for five years. I only wanted to get her dues,” the husband told the jury.

When the wife was asked if she had helped her husband, SS admitted to the accusation and submitted a letter to the jury seeking mercy.