Dubai: An owner of a yacht-building company has been cleared of forging an authorisation notarised by the Foreign Ministry over a deal to build a yacht worth Dh4 million.

Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the 41-year-old company owner, B.J., from Iceland, of forgery and producing the official authorization before the Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi.

When B.I. appeared before the court, he pleaded not guilty and firmly refuted what he described as unfounded accusation.

Prosecution records said an Emirati official, M.J., alleged that he discovered what he described as a ‘suspicious authorisation letter’ while he was checking the documents of the court case that took place between them in Abu Dhabi Court.

Meanwhile, B.J.’s lawyer defended before the Dubai Court that his client did not forge or use any forged document. The advocate explained that his client agreed with M.J. to sponsor a yacht-building company that B.J. planned to open in the UAE.

The plaintiff primarily agreed to sponsor the company after B.J. built for him a yacht, explained the lawyer.

However, M.J. thereafter refused to sponsor the company, according to the lawyer’s defence, and also refused to repay the Dh4 million that cost to build the yacht.

“The court has dismissed the case against B.J., who is innocent of all charges. The plaintiff’s civil lawsuit has also been rejected. The plaintiff will have to pay court fees,” said Presiding Judge Ali Attiyah Saad in courtroom three on Thursday. A bright smile shined up B.J.’s face when he heard the verdict.

M.J. claimed during prosecution questioning that he discovered what deemed as a forged document when he took the copy of the court cases that took place in Abu Dhabi.

“I asked for a copy of the court file to be able to review the documents shortly after I was ordered to pay Dh4 million. Taking my experience in official paper work, I suspected that the authorisation was notarised in an illegal way. I took a photocopy of it and claimed to an executional judge that the authorisation was forged. The Foreign Ministry’s office in Dubai confirmed that the authorisation and stamps were forged and that the signature did not belong to any of its employees,” claimed the Emirati.

Thursday’s judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.