African housemaid in Dubai fined & jailed for stealing aed1m/$274k in cash from sponsor

A housemaid was sentenced to one year in jail for stealing around Dh1 million/$274,000 from her sponsor. The court ordered to deport the defendant after she had served her jail term.

She was additionally fined Dh979,947. The Dubai Court of First Instance heard that according to records, the 26-year-old maid from Uganda had stolen Dh760,000, $50,000 (Dh183,900) and 3,000 Kuwaiti dinars (Dh36,000) — totalling Dh979,900 — from her sponsor. 

The sponsor, a 43-year-old Lebanese housewife, testified that the accused was working at her house in Bur Dubai since March last year. 

“She was stealing small amounts of money. I confronted her and told her to stop the theft. On the day of the incident, my husband saw the defendant going to the first floor and then returning with a black bag and stepping out of the house. 

The next day she escaped,” said the Lebanese housewife on record. 

Dubai Police arrested the maid after two weeks from a house in Ajman, where she was hiding and waiting to leave the country. 

A policeman said that the maid admitted to have carried out the theft and said she had handed over the money to another suspect who had fled the country with the money. 

The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.