Abu Dhabi court obligates man to return Dhs450,000 to woman

Gulf Today

09-04-2025

Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court has obligated a person to pay Dhs450,000 to a woman plus a compensation of Dhs10,000.
Based on their friendship, the woman had lent the defendant the sum in five instalments over a period of time via her bank account.
The court found this to be true through the correspondence exchanged between the two parties, noting that the defendant neither confirmed that the sums had entered his accounts, nor denied receiving them, nor proved that he returned them.
Earlier, the woman filed a lawsuit against the defendant in which she requested the court to obligate him to return Dhs450,000 to her plus an annual legal interest of 12 per cent from the date the lawsuit was filed until full settlement of the amount.
The plaintiff also requested the court to obligate the defendant to pay her a compensation of Dhs50,000 and settle the fees and expenses incurred by the lawsuit.
The plaintiff pleaded that she had lent the defendant the claimed amount via her bank account in five batches, the first in the amount of Dhs100,000, the second in the amount of Dhs100,000, the third in the amount of Dhs50,000, the fourth in the amount of Dhs100,000 and the fifth in the amount of Dhs100,000.
When she demanded the defendant to return the amounts, however, he procrastinated for long periods, prompting her to file the present lawsuit, she added.
The plaintiff supported her claim with copies of bank transfers legally translated into Arabic and copies of phone conversations between her and the defendant.
The defendant responded to the lawsuit with a memorandum in which he stated that the claim was false and that the bank transfers from the plaintiff's account to him were not evidence that he was indebted to her.
He pleaded that the plaintiff filed her lawsuit only after the relationship between them had failed to be culminated into marriage, requesting the court to reject the lawsuit.
The court explained that the letters exchanged between the two parties showed that the plaintiff requested the defendant to return her sums of money, but the latter neither confirmed that the sums had entered his accounts, nor denied receiving them and nor proved that he had returned any of the amounts claimed.
Based on this, the court finds that the defendant owes the plaintiff the requested amount, which he has not paid back. Hence, the defendant is obligated to respond to the first part of the plaintiff's request and pay her Dhs450,000.
As the defendant received the plaintiff's money and did not return it to her upon request but kept it for a period of time, thereby depriving her of the freedom to use her money at her discretion, the court stated that the defendant is obligated to pay the plaintiff a compensation estimated at Dhs10,000.
The second part of the plaintiff's request, the court sees that no interest must be paid when there is compensation. The court, however, stated that the defendant is obligated to pay the fees and expenses of the lawsuit in accordance with Article 133 of federal decree-law no. 42 for 2022.