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
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