People who have been in Dubai long enough know Wafi City because of a very dramatic robbery that took place in the mall in 2007. 

Using two stolen cars (one with a Dubai registration plate and the other with an Abu Dhabi registration plate), armed men crashed into the window of the jewellery store Graff around 9.30pm. The police later found out the robbers used toy guns to terrorise the store attendants. The men, dressed in black clothes and masks, stole jewellery worth AED 56 million. They were members of the infamous Pink Panther gang.

Nine years later…

The fourth member, a 34-year-old Serbian, has been jailed for ten years. The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the accused of aiding and abetting a number of unidentified robbers who were a part of the daring heist. He will be deported following the completion of his punishment.

The accused was also found guilty of forging a Yugoslavian passport. He entered the country illegally, stayed unlawfully and then exited on the same document.

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While he pleaded not guilty and refuted any involvement in the heist, he said he used the Yugoslavian passport to enter and exit the UAE.

To solve this case, Dubai Police attended Interpol meetings in Europe

They provided DNA findings, fingerprints and all available evidence from the crime scene. The defendant’s fingerprints matched those lifted from other places where similar sort of robberies had taken place. He had been arrested in Spain.

So far…

• A Serb resident was jailed for ten years for involvement in the case.
• A Serb visitor was cleared of aiding and abetting the resident.
• A third suspect had his case dismissed for lack of corroborated evidence.

Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.

Dubai Police earlier released a video on Operation Pink Panther

It highlights the incident and arrests of the gang members.

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