A Sharjah court has acquitted an Indian man who was previously sentenced to one year in prison and deportation from the UAE over alleged involvement in a AED 104,000 villa rental fraud. The court ruled that there was no documented evidence linking him to the fraud and that merely owning the villa did not establish criminal liability.

The Indian man, who holds a managerial position at a well-known Dubai company, jointly owns a villa in Sharjah with his father. Seeking to rent out the property, he approached a Sharjah real estate company and provided a copy of the villa’s registration certificate solely for the purpose of advertising it on a property website.

However, the owner did not grant the real estate company any power of attorney or authorisation to sign a tenancy agreement or collect rent.

AED 104,000 fraud carried out using fake email

The case began when a woman saw the villa advertised online, contacted the real estate company to rent it and agreed to pay annual rent of AED 104,000.

The brokerage prepared a one-year tenancy agreement and asked the woman to transfer the full rental amount to the company’s bank account. The agency’s two owners, who were the first and second defendants in the case, had personally shown the villa to the prospective tenant.

Before making the payment, the woman asked the company to provide a power of attorney proving that it had legal authorisation from the owner to rent out the villa. However, company representatives claimed that such a document was unnecessary and that the owner could approve the agreement by email.

A fake email address resembling the villa owner’s address was then used to create the impression that he had personally approved the agreement.

Relying on the company’s assurances, the tenant transferred AED 104,000 to its bank account. She was promised that the villa would be handed over within 10 days, but after the deadline passed, she tried to contact the real estate broker and found that the phone had been switched off.

The woman then filed a police complaint, and a criminal case was opened against three people: two officials from the real estate company and the villa owner.

Villa owner arrested at Dubai airport without prior knowledge of case

The Indian villa owner was unaware that legal proceedings had been initiated against him and only learned of the case when he was arrested at Dubai International Airport while travelling to his home country.

Investigations found that the mobile number registered under his name in the case did not belong to him. As a result, he had not received any notices from the police, Public Prosecution or court.

Following his arrest, he discovered that a Sharjah court had previously sentenced him in absentia to one year in prison, followed by deportation from the UAE.

The man was transferred to prison after his arrest, and his father sought assistance from Shamsuddin Karunagappally, senior legal consultant at Aisha Al Dhaheri Advocates and Legal Consultants.

After the legal team took on the case, the villa owner was temporarily released and his lawyers challenged the ruling.

Sharjah court: Villa ownership does not imply involvement in fraud

The defence team submitted a legal memorandum and supporting documents showing that their client had not granted the real estate company any legal authority to rent out the property or collect rent, and that there was no evidence of his involvement in the fraudulent acts.

The defence lawyers stressed that merely owning a villa or providing a copy of its registration documents for advertising purposes could not be considered evidence of the owner’s involvement in a crime.

After reviewing the evidence and defence submissions, the Sharjah court accepted the legal team’s arguments and ruled that the case contained no documented evidence proving the villa owner’s involvement in the fraud.

The court ultimately overturned the previous ruling and acquitted the man of all charges.

The ruling established that owning a property or providing its documents for advertising purposes is insufficient to prove criminal liability without evidence of participation in criminal activity.