Dubai Court Orders Man to Return Dh4.4M to Investor Over Breach of Trust

The Dubai Misdemeanours Court has ordered a man convicted of breach of trust to return Dh4.4 million to an investor after he was found guilty of embezzling six kilogrammes of gold and digital currencies entrusted to him.

The court sentenced the defendant to three years in prison, followed by deportation from the UAE, and directed him to repay the value of the misappropriated assets. The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the verdict after dismissing his appeal over failure to pay the required insurance, making the judgment final.

The case was filed after an investor accused the defendant of unlawfully taking possession of assets handed to him in trust and sought recovery of the value of the items, along with compensation of Dh500,000 for the losses suffered.

Following the criminal conviction, the Dubai Civil Court ordered the defendant to pay Dh4.4 million, representing the value of the embezzled assets, along with Dh300,000 in compensation, legal interest, court fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees.

The civil court noted that the final criminal judgment had conclusively established that the defendant committed the offence of breach of trust by misappropriating funds belonging to the investor. As a result, the matter could not be reconsidered before the civil court.

The court further confirmed that the criminal proceedings had established that the investor had entrusted the assets to the defendant, who later took possession of them unlawfully.

While ordering repayment of the full value of the embezzled assets, the court also ruled that the investor had suffered financial and moral damages due to being deprived of the use of his funds for more than two years, losing potential investment opportunities and incurring expenses while pursuing legal action to recover his rights.

The court assessed the additional compensation at Dh300,000 and imposed a five per cent legal interest on the amount from the date the judgment becomes final until full payment. The defendant was also ordered to bear the lawsuit costs, expenses and legal fees.

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