UPDATE: Due to the generosity of people in the UAE this man has been helped with his financial problems, and is in the process of getting his passport back. He will soon be reunited with his family.
Full Article here: https://gn24.ae/84a352fd4377000
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Four years after a careless act triggered a series of catastrophic events and turned his life upside down, a former restaurant manager in Sharjah is still struggling to pick up the pieces.
#MoneyInBin #LostMoney #MovingOn
Full Article here: https://gn24.ae/84a352fd4377000
See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Four years after a careless act triggered a series of catastrophic events and turned his life upside down, a former restaurant manager in Sharjah is still struggling to pick up the pieces.
#MoneyInBin #LostMoney #MovingOn
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NewsTranscript
00:00My name is Abdul Wahab.
00:29I'm born and brought up in UAE.
00:31I used to work as a restaurant manager in one of the restaurants in Dubai.
00:35I still remember that fateful day four years back in March 2015 when I came here in this
00:42mosque to pray the Zohar prayer and after the Zohar prayer when I was going back, my
00:50car was, there was a lot of mess in my car.
00:53I wanted to clean my car because the garbage bin was next to my car and I've been busy
00:58at work, I don't get time to clean my car regularly.
01:01So since I saw the opportunity, the garbage bin is next to my car, I thought let me clear
01:05the car and then I'll go to do the rest, to carry on with the rest of the day.
01:10When I started clearing the car, after clearing the car, I went to Dubai mall, was going to
01:14the bank to do a cash deposit of the restaurants and upon reaching Dubai mall, I realized the
01:22cash was not there in the car and accidentally while clearing the car, I didn't realize that
01:29the cash bag also came in my hand and I threw it away in the garbage.
01:33I came back to Sharjah, the same place, to look for it but unfortunately I couldn't find
01:39anything and the next thing I did immediately is call my general manager and I informed
01:44them about this incident of what happened.
01:47They advised me to go to the police station and file a case.
01:52When I went to the police station, they told me the section, the lost and found section
01:56is operating only in the morning hours so I have to come back the following day.
02:00When I went there the following day to file this case, the police officer asked me for
02:06who is this money which you have lost and I told them it belongs to the company and
02:11the police officer told me that the PRO has to be there with me if it is a company money
02:17and I informed the company the same thing but at that time the company refused to send
02:22the PRO to file a case.
02:24The reason what they gave me is the cash has been insured for stolen cash, not for lost.
02:30So if I would tell them it's a stolen, then they would send a PRO to file a case but in
02:35that, in the other case, they will not send the PRO.
02:38And I refused to make up a story because I don't want during any investigation it finds
02:43out that it was not stolen, it was my mistake and I will get into a bigger trap.
02:48I stick to my words that yes, I lost the money, it is my mistake, I am a human being and I
02:53was ready to pay them amount and I told them I am willing to pay, just help me to file
02:57a case.
02:58At that time my passport also was with me, I could have easily run away if I wanted to
03:03but that's not me.
03:05I went to the company, I informed them about this, they didn't know about this, I was the
03:08one who informed them.
03:10So few days later on they told me about my passport, they asked me about my passport,
03:14they said one of the company's trade license is expired and they are not able to renew
03:20the trade license because my visa is expired.
03:24I told them my visa is not expired, it was valid but they told me no, it's one of the
03:28government offices showing my visa is expired so they have to correct that update.
03:33And I knew they were making up stories just to take the passport from me and again my
03:37intention was never to run away or to harm anyone so I surrendered the passport as what
03:42they demanded.
03:43So after few days passed they called me again the HR department and they asked me that,
03:48they told me that the account department has been pressurizing them so much and they need
03:53a security check from me of 105,000 Dirham amount without any date, it's just for a security
03:58purpose.
03:59I told them fine, I gave them the security check.
04:03Then a few days passed, they gave me a call again and they told me that they have spoke
04:07to the insurance company and the insurance company has agreed to pay the amount, they
04:12only need a statement letter of incident report signed by myself and when I asked them that
04:18how come the insurance company is willing to pay the amount when there is no police
04:21report, no insurance company is going to pay the money without the police report.
04:25Then they told me no, we are trying to help you, we have settled it down with the insurance
04:29company under the table and etc, etc.
04:31So I gave them the statement letter as well, the incident report and signed it and once
04:37they got that from me, they fired me from the job and they told me to get the cash.
04:42I told them how do I get the cash?
04:44I mean you are asking me 100,000 Dirham not 1,000 Dirhams and you have taken, I have given
04:50you the passport, I have given you a security check, I have given you the incident report
04:54and now you are firing me from a job and how do you expect me to pay this 100,000 Dirhams?
05:00We don't know, it's your problem, sell your car, sell your, I don't have anything.
05:05Well I stayed on this stage for approximately a year trying to convince them, calling them
05:10and trying to find a solution with this to come up on some agreement but every time I
05:16tried my best they always refused and in 2016 Ramadan when I called them again, I told them
05:23I don't have anything to eat now, I came up on the road, I was literally because I had
05:28a two bedroom apartment, I could not pay the rent, they filed the case, they kicked
05:32me out from the flat, I had a loan, I had a credit card, I had a rented car, everyone
05:37filed a case against me.
05:39I was literally staying in the car for three months or more than three months, I was just
05:44surviving on Indomie noodles, getting a hot water from a restaurant and buying a packet
05:49of Indomie from a, buying an Indomie packet from a grocery and I was surviving on that
05:57and I was coming back to the same mosque where I was using the toilet, in the Fajr time I
06:03used to come take a shower, wash my cloth with the plain water and you keep it in the
06:06car to dry up and I survived for three months like this.
06:10And whose car was this?
06:12It was my friend's car who gave me, who went out for a long vacation, so when the company
06:16told me that there is no way out, they cannot do anything, then when they told me that you
06:21have to find a way out, when I told them the only way I can see out from this is committing
06:25suicide, I don't see any other way out.
06:28And then they told me go kill yourself, we don't care, we need the money.
06:31That was the time when I realised it's not going to work out by this way.
06:35So in Ramadan when I went to Labour office to file a case against, about this issue,
06:40unfortunately I was not aware about this law which says any incident with your company
06:46employer within one year you have to file a case, if you don't file a case within one
06:50year you lose your rights, I was not aware about this law.
06:54Unfortunately I lost the case as well.
06:56Now the security check which the company have taken from me, they filed a case against that
07:00as well, and I got a punishment in that, judgement was to pay 5000 Dirham fine, which I spent
07:05a month in the jail, and the other 2000 I paid them by cash.
07:09Even the other cases which I got, about the loan, credit card, rented car, flat, I spent
07:14it in total around seven months in jail.
07:162017 Ramadan I spent it in jail, then I came out, 2018 Ramadan again I spent it in jail,
07:23and then I finished the rest of the judgement, whatever was the punishment, I faced them
07:27all and I came out.
07:292019 Ramadan, every single day of Ramadan I was spending with the fear, everywhere I
07:34see a police car, I see a local guy, I feel like he's a CID coming to catch me.
07:40Last four years of my life been living in fear, I haven't seen my parents for last seven
07:44years, my parents are getting older, my mom got a car accident I couldn't go and see her,
07:50my father, last April my father first got a heart attack, I couldn't go and see him,
07:55I can't forget, my father used to tell me, he always wished to have four sons, the reason
08:01my father wanted to have four sons, is that if something happened to him, he want only
08:06his sons to take him to his grave, he doesn't want anyone to take him, and I am stuck in
08:11this situation, what happens if something happened to him, who gives me my father back,
08:17who brings me back these moments,
08:26every time I pray, I pray to God, never test me this, never pass me through this test,
08:33I haven't seen them for long time now, I want to go back home, my parents are struggling,
08:44this was not a mistake, that you ruin someone's life, every person every now and then somebody
08:50loses something in life, it was my unfortunate day, that I lost the cash but I was honest
08:56enough to admit it, and I was willing to face the consequences, willing to pay, and this
09:04is what I get back, after living all my life one year, I am spending days in the streets
09:41what are you doing?
09:47I didn't do anything, it was not my fault, it was not my fault, whatever I have gone through,
09:57people run away after looting crores of rupees, it was an ordinary mistake,
10:03I don't care what happens to me, I am worried about my parents, where will I get my father back,
10:18how will I fulfill my father's wish,
10:23As the saying goes, a moment of neglect is a lifetime of regret, and who would know this
10:36better than Abdul Wahab, who has lost 4 precious years of his life, I urge people watching
10:41this video to come forward and help this man put his life back on track, Mazhar Faruqi
10:47and Ahmad Ramzan for Gulf News
10:52For more information visit www.gulfnews.com