Dubai: A wealthy GCC woman who stole unique pieces of jewellery from stores in Dubai has been caught, police said on Monday.
The woman, who was visiting Dubai with her family, had carried out five thefts but was caught in the act during her sixth attempt.
Police said the woman was the wife of a senior official in a neighbouring GCC country.
Lieutenant Colonel Saeed Al Ayali, director of the criminal investigation department at Dubai Police, said on Monday that five complaints had been received by police from branded jewellery shops concerning the thefts of unique and expensive pieces of jewellery.
Lt Col Al Ayali said the closed-circuit cameras which monitored the shops showed the woman stealing from the stores.
“The images of the woman were distributed to all jewellery shops in Dubai,” he added.
Lt Col Al Ayali said a jeweller told police that the woman was at his shop.
Police instructed the jeweller to try to keep her in his shop as long as possible.
“The woman was caught red-handed as she was trying to leave the shop after she stole a piece of jewellery.”
The woman was taken to the police station where she said she suffered from a psychological disorder and was unaware she was stealing.
Her husband was also called to the police station.
After searching the room in the five-star hotel where the family was staying police found jewellery worth Dh200,000 stolen by the woman.
The case has been transferred to the public prosecutor for further investigation.
