Dubai court orders former manager to pay over Dh1 million in embezzlement case

Dubai: A former female employee of a shisha service company has been ordered by the Dubai Civil Court to repay more than Dh1 million to her former employer after being found guilty of embezzling funds over a four-year period.

The verdict, which follows an earlier criminal conviction, caps a prolonged internal investigation that began when the company — operating shisha kiosks in public spaces across Dubai — noted unexplained discrepancies in the daily sales records of one of its branches.

According to court documents, the former sales manager and cashier had been manipulating the company’s financial records between 2020 and 2024. The branch manager raised red flags after discovering two transactions for which no receipts were issued. A full audit revealed repeated instances where the amount physically collected far exceeded the numbers entered the company’s sales system.

Confronted with the findings, the employee admitted that she was siphoning off cash from daily revenues for personal use, expressing confidence that the theft would go undetected.

The company referred the matter to the Dubai Public Prosecution, which brought criminal charges. The criminal court ultimately found the defendant guilty, levying a fine equal to the amount embezzled. The recent civil court ruling requires her to reimburse Dh1.034 million in full.

Legal consultant Dr. Alaa Nasr, the company’s legal representative, said the civil court had relied on established legal principles obligating restitution in cases of unlawful financial gain. The court also cited the criminal judgment as conclusive proof of misconduct. “The ruling reaffirms that professional trust is not just an ethical obligation — it carries real legal weight,” Dr. Nasr noted. “Violations of that trust result in both criminal sanctions and civil liability.”