Dubai: The Dubai Misdemeanor Court acquitted a man accused of using another person's bank card without authorisation and unlawfully obtaining money from the account after ruling that he had been deceived by a friend who falsely claimed the card belonged to him.The court convicted the second defendant, finding that he stole the bank card from his roommate and exploited the first defendant's good faith to carry out the withdrawal. The court fined him AED2,000.According to court records, the second defendant was sharing accommodation with the victim and took advantage of the victim's absence to steal his bank card. After discovering that the card's PIN was written on the back, he handed the card to the first defendant and falsely claimed it was his own.He then asked the first defendant to withdraw money from an ATM on his behalf because he was allegedly busy.Believing the card belonged to his friend, the first defendant withdrew AED2,300 from the account and handed over the full amount. The second defendant later gave him AED100 for carrying out the errand.The victim discovered the incident after receiving a text message from his bank informing him that AED2,300 had been withdrawn from his account while he was away from the residence. When he returned and could not locate his bank card, he reported the matter to police.Investigations subsequently revealed the details of the incident and the role played by each defendant.In its judgment, the court said the facts were established through the victim's statements, the second defendant's confession before the Public Prosecution, and the first defendant's statements during the investigation.The court noted that the second defendant admitted taking the card while the victim was away, exploiting the presence of the PIN written on it and deceiving the first defendant into believing that the card belonged to him.The court explained that the offence of using a bank card without authorisation requires proof that the offender knew the card belonged to another person and intentionally used it to obtain money unlawfully.Likewise, theft requires criminal intent and knowledge that the property belongs to another person.The court found that these elements were fully established against the second defendant but were absent in the case of the first defendant.It said there was no evidence showing that the first defendant knew the card had been stolen or that he participated in any agreement to steal or misuse it. Nor was it proven that he retained any of the withdrawn money beyond the AED100 given to him after carrying out what he believed was a legitimate request.The court stressed that the presumption of innocence can only be overturned by conclusive evidence and that any doubt must be interpreted in favour of the accused.Accordingly, it acquitted the first defendant of all charges and convicted the second defendant of stealing the bank card and using it without authorisation to obtain the victim's money.Taking into account that the victim had waived his personal right against the accused, the court imposed a fine of AED2,000 on the second defendant.
