IHAB AL RIFAI (ABU DHABI)
Two women agreed to establish a chit fund, an informal financial arrangement where in a few individuals gather and pool a fixed sum of money at regular intervals, with one friend continuing to pay the agreed upon instalments of Dh25,000 to her friend, who later failed to make any payments to her friend.
The failure to pay led the friend to file a suit in a case at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, demanding that the defendant pay the claim amount of Dh25,000 with legal interest and Dh5,000 in material and moral damages due to the defendant’s delay in settling the amounts owed. The Court ruled that the defendant pay the plaintiff Dh25,000 and Dh2,000 in damages.
In its reasoning, the Court stressed that messages exchanged electronically between the parties showed that the defendant had agreed to transferring the agreed upon Dh25,000.
The defendant presented evdience of transferring money to the plaintiff to the Court, which found that the evidence presented occurred outside of the relevant time period in which the defendant had agreed to paying the sum.
Since the defendant did not provide sufficient evidence of payment, refute the reason for the transfers, or prove her innocence, the Court found in favour of the plaintiff, awarding Dh2,000 in damages to the plaintiff after the Court ruled that the defendant’s actions caused financial harm and a loss of earnings estimated at that value.