2 Pakistanis flee with USD 1.7 mn from Dubai currency exchange

Two Pakistani nationals working with a money exchange centre in the UAE have fled the country with at least 6.5 million dirham, according to Dubai Police.
The money belonged to the customers who had paid for wiring to their families in their home countries.
The two Pakistani employees of Atlantis Exchange in Naif area illegally obtained the money for their benefit and fled the country, a senior official with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Dubai Police told Gulf News.
"The two employees embezzled 6.5 million dirham (USD 1.7 million) from customers and fled the country two days ago," he said.

It was not immediately clear if the money was embezzled over a period of time or stolen in a few days.
After the incident, the customers panicked as there had been reports about the recent shutting down of six branches of the Smart Exchange after its Asian owner absconded with a few millions of dirhams.

"People were crying because they lost their money. Some of the victims went to police, saying they wired money to their home countries but the money was not credited and they found the exchange office closed," the report quoted an eyewitness as saying.
Police summoned the Emirati owner of the exchange centre and discovered that two employees have fled the country with the money.

Police have registered 10 complaints until Monday with more people seeking to register complaints.
"We are investigating the matter and coordinating with authorities concerned to track down the two suspects in their home country and recover the money," police said.
Atlantis Exchange does not have any other branch.
In May, the Central Bank had ordered the closure of all the six branches of the Smart Exchange after finding irregularities.