Man takes Dhs18,000 to bring domestic worker, switches off phone

Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court ordered a man to pay Dhs18,000 to a woman and fined him Dhs10,000 as compensation on swindle charges.

The woman reached an agreement with the man to bring her a domestic worker and handed the aforementioned sum over to him in accordance with the agreement. The man, however, kept the money for himself, switched off his phone and refused to communicate with her or return the funds.

Earlier, a woman filed a lawsuit against a man in which she requested the court to obligate him to return Dhs18,000, which he took from her, pay Dhs30,000 in compensation and bear the incurred legal fees and charges associated with the case.

The plaintiff pleaded that following an advertisement she saw on social media, she reached an agreement with the defendant, whereby he would bring her a domestic worker in exchange for a specified sum of money.

After receiving the payment, however, the defendant failed to bring the domestic worker and instead misappropriated the funds, she said. He subsequently disconnected his phone, refused to communicate with her and failed to return the money, all without any legal justification, she added.

A criminal case was subsequently initiated as a result of which the defendant was convicted but this caused material and moral harms to her, particularly given that the misappropriated sum was everything she had.

Upon reviewing the documents and the findings of the prior criminal judgment in which the defendant was convicted of the offence, the court determined the amount in question to be Dhs18,000, thereby substantiating the defendant’s liability for this sum.

The court stated that the compensation for material harms is set at Dhs5,000 and an equal amount for moral harms, bringing the total compensation due to Dhs10,000.