Ex-minister acquitted of defrauding Lebanese woman
Emirati ex-minister and two managers have been acquitted of defrauding a Lebanese businesswoman by the Dubai Court of Appeal
Dubai: The Dubai Public Prosecution (DPP) and a Lebanese businesswoman lost their appeal against an ex-minister and two managers who were acquitted of defrauding the businesswoman by the Dubai Appeals Court on Sunday.
Presiding Judge Adnan Al Farra acquitted the Emirati former state minister, K.B., American general manager S.A., and Indian finance manager, P.M., of swindling and misleading the businesswoman, M.J., to waive her stake in an information technology firm.
"K.B., S.A. and P.M. are innocent of the charge of swindling. The court rejected [the] DPP's appeal. The court also dismissed M.J.'s appeal in civil rights, regarding the swindling charge, because it fell beyond the criminal court's jurisdiction.
"The claimant in civil right has to pay court fees and Dh1,000 lawyers' fees as well," Presiding Judge Al Farra said yesterday as he delivered the verdict.
The appeal's verdict is still subject to appeal within 30 days before the Cassation Court, which is regarded as Dubai's highest and final prosecution stage.
Yesterday's verdict followed an almost two-month long retrial before the Appeals Court.
In July, the Dubai Court of Cassation overturned the acquittal of the three defendants and ordered a new panel of appeal judges to hold a retrial — concerning the swindling charge.
K.B., S.A. and P.M. had pleaded not guilty and denied the charge of swindling and defrauding M.J. by coercing her into waiving her late brother's stake in the company.
The Cassation Court's eight-judge jury had rejected the appeal submitted by the DPP and M.J. to overturn the acquittal of the former minister concerning the charge of breach of trust.
K.B.'s advocates Samir Jaafar and Hussain Al Jazeri, and lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan, who represented S.A. and P.M., challenged the request of the claimants in civil right during the retrial. Advocates Essam Al Tamimi and Hassan Arab, M.J.'s legal representative in civil rights, asked for the cross-examination of some witnesses during the retrial.
"My client didn't defraud or deceive the businesswoman who was aware that my client partnered her late brother in an information technology company, before she willingly waived her stake.
Waiver
"When she signed the wavier agreement, she was fully aware that K.B. was her brother's partner," Jaafar argued before the court.
During the retrial, the managers' lawyer Bin Suwaidan said: "M.J. was aware of the counter agreement [signed between K.B. and her late brother H.J.] before she presented it to the Misdemeanors Court and before she signed the waiver in 2005."
In May, the Dubai Appeals Court acquitted the defendants of swindling the woman. The Appeals Court then scrapped the initial verdict — two-year jail terms for each of the defendants — and acquitted the trio.
Judiciary issues: How the courts work
The Dubai criminal courts go through three prosecution stages. These are the Courts of First Instance, Appeal and Cassation.
The Court of First Instance's judgment is subject to appeal before a higher court [the Appeal Court] within 15 days. Meanwhile the Appeal Court's verdict is subject, within 30 days, to appeal before the highest court [the Cassation Court]. According to the Criminal Procedures Law, a suspect and/or Dubai Public Prosecution are the only parties who have the legal ground to appeal court verdicts before the Courts of Appeal and Cassation.
Under certain circumstances, the Cassation Court has the capacity to order a retrial by a new panel of appeal judges.
Victims who inflict any damage caused by a defendant in a criminal case could appeal a criminal court judgment — as long as they present themselves as claimants in civil rights. They can do this by lodging a civil lawsuit before the criminal court and seek temporary compensation.
