Expat forges villa papers to fleece tenant of Dh170,000

abu dhabi — A real estate dealer, who was convicted of taking Dh170,000 from a tenant after presenting forged papers that purportedly showed he owned a villa in Abu Dhabi, has been jailed for six months.

The Abu Dhabi Appeal Court upheld an earlier ruling by the court of first instance, which handed down the sentence to the Asian man after he was found guilty of forgery and theft.

Court documents stated that the tenant had paid Dh85,000 in cash and a cheque worth Dh85,000 to the Asian man for renting out villa number 88, in a residential area in Abu Dhabi.

The victim executed the payment after the defendant convinced him that he owned the villa. The man also showed documents, including a land certificate to the tenant, ‘confirming’ that the villa belonged to him.

When the man went to occupy the villa, he found out that it had been rented by another tenant. He went to the Abu Dhabi Municipality and filed a complaint.

After checking the documents of ownership attached to the tenant’s contract, officials found they were fake and the said villa didn’t belong to the Asian man.

Prosecutors had charged him with forgery and theft and the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced him to six months in jail after he was found guilty of both charges.

The Asian challenged the ruling at the appellate court, claiming that he was wrongly convicted. The defendant said he had agreed to pay back the victim’s money.

The judge, however, upheld the first ruling based on the evidence presented by prosecutors.

The man will be deported after serving his jail sentence.

Officials found the documents of ownership were fake.” Public prosectuion, Abu Dhabi