Man ordered to Pay Dhs2.87m plus a Dhs300,000 compensation in cheque case in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court rejected an appeal and upheld a verdict obligating a man to pay a woman Dhs2.87 million plus a compensation of Dhs300,000 on charges of cashing a cheque signed by the woman and failing to return the money to her.

The court also obligated the defendant to pay the incurred fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees. The woman had to take a decisive oath to win the case.

Earlier, a woman filed a lawsuit in which she requested that the defendant pay her Dhs2,87 million plus the incurred fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees. She pleaded that she had signed a cheque for the claimed amount and handed it to the defendant, who cashed it and then failed to return the amount despite being asked to.

The defendant, who attended the court session and acknowledged receipt of the amount, pleaded that he was the woman’s agent under a power of attorney granted to him to manage and follow up on her business and purchase of lands.

Although he submitted separate invoices, the woman insisted on her demands, he added.

The court ruled in the defendant’s presence that he pay the woman Dhs2.87 million plus a compensation of Dhs300,000. The court also obligated the defendant to pay the incurred fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees.

As he was not satisfied with this verdict, the plaintiff filed an appeal in which he requested that the verdict be invalidated and revoked and that the decisive oath be directed to the plaintiff.

The court decided to list the appeal for a public session, where the defendant appeared in person to the court and stated his desire to direct the decisive oath to the plaintiff in the form recorded in his docket. The session was also attended by the plaintiff.

The decisive oath was on the basis that the amount given to him as a deposit was to purchase a property, which he had purchased but had not registered it in the woman’s name, and that he was prepared to transfer the ownership of the property to her name.

The court decided to amend the wording of the decisive oath to the following wording (I swear by God Almighty that I have given Dhs2.87 million as a deposit to the defendant to purchase a property for me. He, however, neither implemented what was agreed upon nor returned the amount claimed to me, and God is witness to what I say).

The court presented the amended wording of the oath to both parties, and the defendant agreed to direct it in the amended form to the plaintiff, who took the amended oath.

According to the official documents, the Court of Appeal had concluded that the content of the oath in the form directed by the defendant meant that he had no evidence other than this oath, which would exonerate the plaintiff.

If the person to whom the oath was directed took the oath, the dispute would be resolved and the opponent who directed the oath would lose his case.