A man loses 1.1 million dirhams in a fake Patek Philippe watch deal

The Civil Court in Dubai ruled to oblige a man to pay 1.572 million dirhams to an Asian person, after he seized more than 1.17 million dirhams, which he received from him to buy luxury watches from a famous international brand, before he refused to deliver the watches or return the money, while the court rejected his claim for compensation exceeding 2.7 million dirhams, which represents the current market value of the watches in question.

The details of the case go back to a lawsuit filed by a man in which he demanded that the defendant be obligated to pay 2.738 million dirhams, in addition to the legal interest, stressing that he suffered huge losses after the latter deluded him of his ability to provide rare “Patek Philippe” watches, which have a high value among collectors and investors.

The plaintiff said that the defendant contacted him via the WhatsApp application, and demonstrated experience in the field of luxury watches, before offering him to buy a number of the required watches, in exchange for paying their value in advance, so he transferred an amount of 1.172 million dirhams in the hope of obtaining the agreed-upon watches.

He added that the defendant began to procrastinate in implementing his obligations, and evaded handing over the watches or returning the money he had received, which prompted him to resort to the competent authorities and file a criminal report against him.

For his part, the defendant denied what was attributed to him, and insisted on rejecting the case. He also requested that the dispute be referred to investigation, claiming that the plaintiff received the hours in question, and presented documents and conversations that he said supported his defense.

Referring to the case papers, the court found that the defendant had previously been convicted with a final criminal ruling in the incident of embezzling an amount of 1.172 million dirhams, which he received from the plaintiff as an agency to purchase the agreed-upon hours, and which he illegally seized for himself. The court confirmed that the criminal ruling settled the issue of error and attributed it to the defendant, and it was proven that his behavior caused the plaintiff material damages represented by the loss of his money, and moral damages as a result of being deprived of the benefit of it throughout that period.

On the other hand, the court refused to calculate compensation based on the current market value of the watches claimed by the plaintiff, and estimated the compensation for all material and moral damages at 1.572 million dirhams.

The court ended up obligating the defendant to pay the aforementioned amount, in addition to legal interest at the rate of 5% annually from the date the ruling became final until full payment, while obligating him to pay fees, expenses, and attorney’s fees.