Dubai: Expat acquitted in theft case involving Dh5.5 million crypto accounts - News

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A 36-year-old French woman has been acquitted of charges related to the theft of her ex-husband’s laptop, which allegedly contained cryptocurrency trading accounts worth more than $1 million.

She was also acquitted of charges of physical abuse against her ex-mother-in-law, related to the same incident.

The verdicts, delivered by Dubai’s criminal courts in July and September respectively, were in the woman’s favor after the court reviewed evidence from both the prosecution and defense. The courts concluded that there was insufficient evidence to convict her of the alleged crimes.

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The charges stemmed from an incident on January 26, 2023, when the couple was still married. Her then husband accused her of preventing him from entering their Al Barsha apartment and damaging the laptop.

He further alleged that six months later she attacked his mother during an altercation in the same apartment.

The laptop, which reportedly contained cryptocurrency trading accounts worth Dh5.5 million, was allegedly intended to pay employees of a company owned by the ex-husband.

According to court documents, the Romanian complainant alleged that the woman took the device while they were still married. He also stated that after he obtained a police permit to retrieve his belongings from the apartment, the laptop disappeared.

However, the defense argued that the French national was wrongly accused and presented substantial evidence supporting her innocence.

Her lawyer, Dr Hassan Elhais of Awatif Shoqi Advocates, argued: “The allegations were based on circumstantial evidence. Our client had no motive or opportunity to commit such crimes, and the technical evidence does not directly implicate her.”

In a separate case involving the same woman, she was also found not guilty of assaulting her ex-mother-in-law. The mother-in-law had accused her of initiating a physical altercation during the transfer of custody of the couple’s child.

The defendant denied the allegations and claimed that her ex-mother-in-law forced his way into the apartment, violating an agreement that required the transfer to take place at the building’s front desk.

The woman explained to the court that the agreed settlement, after her custody victory, required her ex-mother-in-law to wait for the child at the reception. However, according to the suspect, the ex-mother-in-law ignored this and entered the house by force.

The court dismissed the assault charge on the grounds of insufficient evidence and the ongoing personal disputes between the parties.

Elhais commented: “Our client has been vindicated on these counts, and we are grateful for the court’s thorough investigation of the facts in both cases.

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