Khaberni - The Dubai Primary Civil Court ruled that an aluminum foil manufacturing company must pay a foreign company an amount of three million one hundred twenty-seven thousand nine hundred eighteen dirhams as compensation for breaching its contractual obligations and failing to supply the agreed quantities, with the manager being criminally convicted for forging a financial dues transfer receipt.
The lawsuit's events trace back to a commercial relationship between a European company and the defendant company within the country, to supply 245 tons of aluminum in several shipments. The plaintiff company paid financial amounts in installments amounting to one million one hundred sixty-six thousand eight hundred twenty-two dollars, in accordance with the payment terms indicated in the invoices issued by the defendant supplier company.
According to the lawsuit documents, the defendant company failed to supply part of the agreed quantity, valued at about 488 thousand dollars, while it refused to supply the remaining shipments or refund their value, despite repeated demands. Subsequently, it presented a bank transfer receipt indicating the refund of the remaining amount, which later turned out to be fraudulent and the receipt was proven to be forged.
The conclusive criminal judgment in the case resulted in the conviction of the responsible manager of the defendant company for the crime of forgery in an unofficial document, after it was proven that the bank transfer receipt was fabricated to deceive the plaintiff company into believing the remaining amount had been settled.
During the civil lawsuit, the court appointed a specialized expert, who reported that the total amounts due from the defendant company amounted to seven hundred forty-nine thousand six hundred seven dollars, including the value of undelivered goods and an agreed amount from previous email correspondences as an unpaid credit balance, confirming that the plaintiff company had fulfilled all its contractual obligations, while the defendant failed to meet its obligations without providing any justification.
The report revealed that the damage suffered by the plaintiff company was represented by the detention of the due amounts and the deprivation of benefiting from them since the due date. The compensation for the lost profits was estimated at a 5% annual rate, according to the risk-free profit standard practiced in the country.
The court explained in its grounds that the relationship between the parties falls under a sales contract, not a periodic supply contract, and that the defendant's failure to fulfill its obligation to deliver the full goods justifies the contract's termination regarding the undelivered part, while keeping the effects of what was executed before the termination.
The court concluded by terminating the sales contract at issue and mandating the defendant company to pay the plaintiff company an amount of two million seven hundred fifty-one thousand sixty-one dirhams for the due amounts, in addition to a material compensation of three hundred seventy-six thousand eight hundred fifty-seven dirhams, with legal interest at an annual rate of 5% from the due date until full payment, and mandating it to cover the lawsuit's fees and expenses.
