This photo has been used for illustration purposes.
Aya Ardib, Journalist
The Abu Dhabi Court of Family, Civil and Administrative Cases ordered the two women and a man to return Dh1.364 million plus legal entitlements to a woman and to award her Dh20,000 as compensation for fraud charges.
The accused lied to the victim via WhatsApp that the groom wanted to marry her and then took the money from the victim.
The victim filed a lawsuit claiming that the defendant is obliged to return Dh1,364,000 plus a deferred interest of 5% of the awarded amount from the date of filing the lawsuit until full settlement, provided that it would not exceed the awarded amount.
She also claims that the defendant is obliged to pay her AED 250,000 to compensate her for the material and moral damages she has suffered and the resulting costs and legal fees.
The documents show that the defendant used WhatsApp to defraud herself of cash after deceiving the victim about the groom who would marry her. They contacted the victim in his name, which prompted her to hand over the money to them.
She said the court ruled that the defendants were sentenced to three months in prison, followed by deportation of the male defendants and ordering them to pay the resulting costs.
The victim emphasized that she suffered material damage from losing money and having to pay for the proceedings, and emotional damage represented by heartbreak, pain and derogation.
The court said it had made a final judgment and proved that the defendant took the money from the complainant, noting that the defendant had not provided evidence to the court that the money was settled and returned to the complainant.