Dubai: A gang that stole three luxury cars from a Dubai villa and sold them for Dh3 million after forging the owner’s authorisation letter has been arrested by Dubai Police.
According to Dubai Police, the owner, who is outside the country, kept nine high-end cars inside his villa at Emirates Hills and asked his friend to check on them from time to time in his absence. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the friend couldn’t visit the villa regularly. It was during that phase that six Asian suspects planned their move and stole three cars from the villa.
Major-General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said the gang colluded with the villa’s compound security guard to steal the cars. “Dubai Police received a report about a villa robbery. The owner was outside the country and he asked his friend to check the villa from time to time. The friend couldn’t go to the villa due to COVID-19, until he discovered that three cars were missing,” Maj Gen Al Mansouri said.
The gang stole all special plate numbers from the cars along with the keys.
“We formed different teams to identify the gang and interrogated the security guard of the villa compound who admitted to facilitating the robbery by guiding the robbers inside the villa and helping them drive the cars out.”
Brigadier Jamal Al Jallaf, Director of Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, said the teams identified the suspects through the Criminal Data Analysis Centre, including the main suspect who had knowledge of selling vehicle mechanisms in the UAE.
“Follow-ups by the commander-in-chief of Dubai Police were a huge motivation for the investigating teams to arrest the suspects. The gang wanted to take advantage of the pandemic and stole cars belonging to people who couldn’t return to the country due to flight restrictions,” Brig Al Jallaf added. The main suspect bribed the compound’s security guard to facilitate the robbery. The gang found the documents for the cars in the villa and forged an authorisation letter to sell the three cars and their special plate numbers for Dh3 million.
Fourth car stolen
Colonel Adel Al Joker, assistant director-general for Criminal Research Affairs at Dubai Police, said in a separate incident, the suspect stole a fourth car left by the owner who couldn’t return to Dubai due to COVID-19. “He forged the car’s documents and sold it for less than its actual price. The gang was targeting abandoned cars,” Col Al Joker said.
Dubai Police urged villa owners to inform the police when going outside the country, through its ‘Homes Security’ service so that police patrols can monitor such properties.