A man who stole electronics valued at more than €129,000 from his former employer has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Magdi Ba, aged 45, took 371 electronic items — including smartwatches, Fitbits, mobile phones and laptops — from DID Electrical over a three-year span and sold them on to another retailer, reports Breaking News.
Ba, of Ellensborough Grove on Kiltipper Road in Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft, with the court asked to consider a further 362 counts. He has no prior convictions.
The court heard that he was employed at DID Electrical in Fonthill Business Park from November 2017 until late 2021 and had access to the warehouse during that time, reports Breaking News.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that concerns arose in November 2021 after a warehouse manager noticed five Apple devices missing from a box.
A loss prevention officer later examined CCTV footage from the Fonthill Business Park warehouse, which showed Ba in the vault at the time the items were believed to have been taken, reports Breaking News.
Another staff member said he had seen Ba at the CEX store in Tallaght. Prosecuting counsel Karl Moran BL explained that the retailer buys second-hand electronics from the public and records serial numbers and descriptions of all items purchased.
DID obtained a full record of Ba’s alleged transactions with the CEX store and cross-referenced the items sold with its own supplier records, reports Breaking News.
Mr Moran told the court that DID staff manually matched the 371 items sold by Ba to CEX with stock that had previously been supplied to the company.
The court heard that DID Electrical suffered losses totalling €129,651, while Ba received €60,009 from CEX. None of the stolen items were recovered, as all had been sold on, reports Breaking News.
As part of the investigation, gardaí examined Ba’s bank accounts and identified unexplained funds that did not align with his income at the time, including a payment towards his then partner’s mortgage.
Ba’s home was searched on January 31st, 2022, where gardaí discovered electronic items such as iPads, iPhones, Samsung Galaxy watches and earbuds, reports Breaking News.
He was arrested in his car at Fonthill Retail Park three days later and was interviewed on three separate occasions.
Ba initially denied any theft but later admitted taking items, estimating the number at around 200, though he said he was unsure of the exact figure, reports Breaking News.
He claimed he removed items from a returns box but accepted that he had also taken other stock.
Judge Orla Crowe described his actions as a “consistent breach of trust” carried out over a prolonged period of time, reports Breaking News.
“This has to be a custodial sentence,” she remarked, reports Breaking News.
She also noted that Ba had forfeited the contents of two bank accounts worth €67,000, along with his car, before sentencing him to two years’ imprisonment, reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
