Employee cleared in Dh1.2m loan default case

An employee, who stood trial for alleged Dh1.2m loan default, has been cleared of charges by the Court of First Instance recently.
The employer sued him claiming that he had borrowed Dh1.2 million and promised to pay it back in four months.
The company owner told the Al Ain Court of First Instance that his employee had borrowed the money to wrap up a private business.
The employer also said that he had signed a voucher receiving the said amount, but the receipt was found out to have been a blank salary collection slip the employee had signed blank.
Denying the allegations made by his employer, the employee requested the court to refer the receipt to criminal laboratory to get it examined to prove his innocence.
The criminal laboratory report confirmed that except the signature, the other contents given in the receipt were written by somebody else.
Meanwhile, the defense lawyer had presented a memo pointing out that the receipt was signed as blank against receiving labour related wages, making it clear that all the employees of the company do sign the same paper every month.
Other employees at the company, who stood as witnesses in the case, confirmed that the company used to make them sign a blank paper, along with their names and date, when receiving the salary.
Throughout the trial, the defendant insisted that he had not collected or borrowed such amount of money from his employer or the company.
The plaintiff, however, failed to prove his claims, which the court took into consideration in rejecting the employer's lawsuit against the man.
The court, accordingly, ordered the company owner to pay the lawyer fees and court charges.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi