Khaberni - The Misdemeanors Court in Dubai sentenced an Asian defendant to one month in prison, fined him 490,000 Dirhams, and deported him from the country after he was convicted of embezzling gold powder weighing about two kilograms, which had been entrusted to him for shipping abroad.
The details of the case go back to a complaint filed by a jewelry store owner, who reported a case of embezzlement of a gold powder shipment valued at about 490,000 Dirhams, which he had entrusted to the defendant to ship to his homeland, before being surprised by its non-arrival.
According to the case files, the victim had handed over the shipment in a specialized bag to the defendant, who had agreed to transport it through a shipping company. However, the defendant took it for himself, exploiting the trust given to him, without completing the shipping process or delivering it to the intended recipient.
The investigations showed that the defendant had a prior relationship with the victim through his work in the gold industry, which facilitated the handover of the shipment without formal complications in a framework of trust, which the defendant later exploited to steal the money.
The court based its conviction on several pieces of evidence, including the victim's statements, witness testimonies, forensic reports, and the footage from surveillance cameras inside the gold shop, which showed the moment the defendant received the shipment and left the place with it.
The investigations also confirmed that the witnesses recognized the defendant through his photo shown to them, and he admitted to receiving the shipment, although he tried to deny responsibility, which the court did not accept in light of the evidence presented.
The court explained in its judgment that the crime represents a form of breach of trust, which is established whenever the perpetrator receives money on a trust basis and then disposes of it with the intention of owning it or harming the owner, noting that the criminal intent is fulfilled by mere change in the possession of the money from incomplete to complete with the intent to own.
The court confirmed that the gold was handed over to the defendant based on a trust relationship, and that his appropriation of it without right constitutes a breach of this trust, especially since it was proven that he did not ship it or return it, resulting in direct harm to the victim.
The court convicted the defendant and sentenced him to one month in prison, fined him the value of the embezzled money, and deported him from the country after the sentence was carried out, while referring the civil lawsuit to the competent court for adjudication.
