Wife fined for stealing from husband’s flat
MAN ACCUSED HER OF TRYING TO SELL HIS FURNITURE AND OTHER VALUABLES ONLINE
Legal and Court Correspondent
Awoman has been fined Dh10,000 for stealing her husband’s furniture, electronics and other valuables and not allowing him to enter his flat in Dubai following a marital dispute.
Dubai’s highest court rejected the American woman’s appeal, who was fined Dh10,000 for stealing her Kuwaiti husband’s Dh180,000 worth of furniture, electronics, digital devices and wristwatches.
The couple got married in Kuwait in 2013, but the man soon filed a divorce in a Kuwaiti court. After having obtained an order from a judge to enter his flat (where the woman had been living) in Dubai Marina, the man was accompanied by a Dubai court legal officer to the flat to take his belongings.
Denied entry
Records showed that the man was denied entry to the flat several times. Eventually, when the woman allowed him in, he found that his furniture, wristwatches, electronics, digital camera, laptop, flat’s title deed and chequebook were missing. The man said he saw an online advertisement by his wife selling his furniture and belongings. He accused her of stealing his belongings in act of revenge for the divorce case.
The woman pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court. The primary court fined her Dh10,000 and referred the husband’s civil compensation claim of Dh21,000 to the Dubai Civil Court.
Appeal rejected
The woman appealed the primary judgement and asked the appellate court to overturn her conviction. In March, the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the fine.
The woman challenged the appellate court judgement before the Dubai Cassation Court and asked to be acquitted. She contended that her husband failed to produce any substantial evidence that she stole his furniture, belongings and valuables.
In her defence, the woman argued that the furniture and other items that her husband accused her of stealing, belonged to her and had been present in the flat long before their marriage.