A cleaner at a five star hotel stole more than Dh80,000 from guests' rooms and wired the money home. The Ugandan targeted tourists over a period of more than three months, Dubai Criminal Court heard. The 26-year-old was eventually caught with receipts for the cash transfers and a guest's diamong ring. He was sentenced to six months in jail on Thursday. The court earlier heard that security at Fairmont The Palm were alerted when they received multiple complaints on the same day, February 2. "Some said they were missing cash and others said they lost valuable items,” the hotel’s Egyptian head of security testified. He said the cleaner was assigned to all of the rooms whose guests had complained. “We went back to the CCTV footage and made sure that it was indeed the defendant who cleaned all the rooms in question,” he said. He at first denied any wrong doing but cash and receipts were later found in his accommodation room. “We found US dollars, euros, pounds sterling, dirhams and receipts for a total of Dh80,000, transferred by him to his home country," the security chief said. "Dh50,000 of the amount transferred was in a three-month period." Police was contacted and the suspect was arrested on February 4. They found a diamond ring in his room which he confessed he had stolen. The cleaner, who pleaded guilty in court, will be deported upon his release.
