Court of Appeal Jails Defendants for Over Seven Years in Armed Robbery Case
The Second Chamber of the Court of Appeal, presided over by Senior Judge Nasr Salem Al-Haid and with the participation of Senior Judges Mutab Al-Araddi and Saud Al-Sanaa, upheld the seven-year and six-month imprisonment of a Nigerian gang in connection with the robbery and theft of a currency exchange shop in the Al-Mahbula area.
The Public Prosecution had charged the first four defendants with stealing money from the exchange shop, using a fake pistol wielded by the second defendant, while the third and fourth defendants facilitated the theft with the assistance of the first defendant. The fifth defendant was charged with conspiring with the other defendants, agreeing to commit the crime, assisting in concealing the stolen goods, and providing them with the proceeds from the robbery and theft.
The Criminal Court had previously sentenced the first and fifth defendants in absentia, and the remaining defendants in absentia, imposing a seven-year prison term on the first four defendants and six months on the fifth, following an amendment to the legal classification and charges. The Court of Appeal upheld the appealed judgment.
Al-Ahmadi Governorate Criminal Investigation Department had managed to dismantle the Nigerian gang within 24 hours of the armed robbery at a currency exchange office in Al-Mahbula, during which foreign currency valued at 4,600 dinars was stolen.
The Ministry of Interior stated in a press release at the time that “the gang meticulously planned the crime by monitoring exchange offices from the rooftops of adjacent buildings to identify peak hours, and used license plates stolen from other vehicles to conceal the identity of the vehicles used during the operation.”
It added that the efforts of criminal investigation officers led to the arrest of one of the defendants in the Al-Mahbula area, who confessed to surveilling the locations and informing his accomplice when they were free of customers to carry out the robbery.
