Dubai Court orders former manager to repay Dh73,460 loan after 11 years

Dubai: A Dubai court has ordered a former manager to repay a $20,000 loan he received from an employee more than a decade ago, ruling that the debt remains outstanding despite repeated promises to settle it.

In its judgment, the civil misdemeanours court ordered the defendant to return the loan’s value in UAE dirhams, amounting to Dh73,460, along with legal interest of five per cent, calculated from the date the payment fell due until full settlement. The court also ordered him to cover court fees and related costs.

The case dates back to 2012, when the manager requested a personal loan from one of his employees, drawing on a relationship of trust between the two. The money was transferred via two cheques, and the manager signed a written undertaking to repay the amount within the same year.

According to Al Khaleej newspaper, the repayment never materialised. Despite repeated informal requests over the years, the employee was unable to recover the money, prompting her to file a civil lawsuit seeking reimbursement of the loan.

The proceedings passed through several procedural stages. An initial ruling had dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, but that decision was overturned on appeal, with the appellate court confirming that Dubai courts had the authority to hear the dispute. The case was then referred back to the court of first instance for consideration on its merits.

In reviewing the evidence, the court found that the loan had been clearly established and that the defendant had acknowledged receiving the funds and committed in writing to repay them. 

The court said the defendant failed to provide any proof that the debt had been settled or to challenge the validity of the documents submitted, which included copies of the cheques and bank statements.

The court also noted that the defendant did not attend hearings or submit any defence, concluding that his financial liability remained in place.

As a result, the court ruled that the debt was still owed in full, ordering repayment of the principal amount converted into dirhams, together with interest and legal costs, bringing a long-running dispute between employee and employer to a close.