A woman disguised in an abaya, the black robe which thus branded her as the ‘ghost', attempted to rob a money exchange Centre in Abu Dhabi after threatening employees with what turned out to be a fake plastic gun. The suspect additionally had a sharp knife in her possession, and intended to use it in the event her threats with the false gun were unsuccessful.
The Abu Dhabi Police announced that the Operations Room had received notification last Thursday regarding the attempted robbery. Police teams were immediately dispatched to the location and handled the situation promptly and with the utmost efficiency. The police noted that by the time they arrived to the scene, an altercation between the employees of the exchange Centre and the suspect had already occurred and no one had been injured. The police team took all the necessary precautionary measures while apprehending the woman and prevented her from fleeing. The suspect was then frisked by female police officers and the items in her possession were confiscated.
Colonel Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Abu Dhabi Police, said, "Preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested woman, identified as A. L. R., 33 years, is a Filipino national and an illegal resident in the UAE. She was wearing black gloves and wore a black full-face veil with a white scarf on the head. She held a black cloth in her hand, of which she use in an effort to conceal the fake gun that she had threatened the exchange Centre employees with , to avoid leaving any prints, and to avoid being recognised or caught on CCTV. The woman threatened the employees at gun point and asked them to give her the money."
During the interrogation, the woman confessed that she had planned the robbery to settle her outstanding debt, which amounts to approximately AED140,000. She additionally revealed that she had purchased the abaya, the black veil, and the white head scarf from a shopping Centre, and the plastic gun from another store
Colonel Mohammad Borshid said that upon frisking the suspect, she was found with a knife in her possession. "Police officers managed to prevent the woman from using the knife as she resisted arrest when they raided the location," he said. He also expressed his dismay at the use of the traditional dress by the suspect to commit her crime, as the UAE is a country known for being a safe haven for all religions and nationalities, and as one of the most secure countries in the world.