A Dubai court has ordered two former employees to jointly pay 1.4 million dirhams to a gold trading company after they were found guilty of embezzling proceeds from the sale of gold ingots. The employees were previously convicted in a criminal court and received prison sentences along with fines for their actions.
Details of the Case
The plaintiff company claimed that it had entrusted its former sales officers with the task of selling its products and collecting payments to remit to its parent company in India. Over the course of nearly 11 months, the employees received 24-carat gold shipments valued at 1,426,273 dirhams to market and sell. However, they failed to transfer the proceeds from these sales, instead reportedly misappropriating the funds for their own use.
Additional Allegations
In addition to stealing the gold sale proceeds, the employees also purchased 527.5 grams of 22-carat gold on credit from a jewellery company, worth 142,819 dirhams. They registered this purchase under the company’s name, which created an obligation for the company to pay that amount as well. The public prosecutor had referred the two defendants to the criminal court, which sentenced them to one year in prison and held them jointly liable for the embezzled funds. The criminal ruling was upheld on appeal and was finalised without any further legal challenges.
Civil Court Proceedings
During the civil proceedings, the second defendant appeared from prison, denying any responsibility for the embezzlement and claiming that only the first defendant was involved in the theft. Meanwhile, the company’s lawyer remained steadfast in reiterating the claims made in the original lawsuit.
Judicial Findings
The court noted that the case was built on the premise of tort liability, requiring proof of fault, damage, and a causal relationship between them. It asserted that the final criminal ruling carries weight in civil court regarding the establishment of the crime, its legal description, and attribution to the offenders, thereby preventing any further debate on these matters since they are already resolved.
The court confirmed that the criminal verdict against the two defendants confirmed their commission of a breach of trust by misappropriating company funds that had been handed to them in good faith. The finality of the decision rendered the question of their liability non-negotiable, leaving only the assessment of damages suffered by the company and compensation to be determined.
Financial Implications
It was established that the financial damage to the company amounted to the embezzled sum of 1,426,273 dirhams, as confirmed by the final criminal judgements. Consequently, ordering the defendants to repay this amount jointly aligned with the provisions of the law allowing multiple parties to be held accountable for a harmful act if they participated in it.
However, the court dismissed the company’s request to hold the defendants liable for the cost of the gold purchased on credit, explaining that the case documents lacked evidence proving that the purchase was recorded in the company’s name. Additionally, the company did not initiate any evidence-gathering procedures to substantiate this claim, leaving it unsupported by concrete legal evidence.
Concluding Verdict
The court ultimately mandated that the defendants jointly repay 1,426,273 dirhams, with a statutory interest rate of 5% from the date the judgment became final until full payment is made. They were also ordered to cover court fees and costs, along with 1,000 dirhams for the plaintiff’s legal expenses, while denying all other requests.