The Penal Code of the UAE stipulates that anyone who captures for themselves or for others transferable money or documents or signing such document or cancelling, damaging or amending it through trickery or using a false name or personality for the purpose of tricking the victim and forcing him to deliver such shall be punished with a jail or a fine. It is commonly believed that fraud is characterized merely by the presence of deception, yet fraud tends to be an intricate crime that requires the presence of other important elements alongside deception. The law necessitates that deceit and the use of fraudulent means to be proved. Lying in itself is not sufficient to characterize fraud, as it must be accompanied by material acts or external appearances that cause the victim to believe in the truth of the lie and to surrender his money as a result of such belief. The two elements that constitute the fraud crime are the material element and the moral element.
The case of fraud is composed of two aspects: the fraudulent means that the offender has employed in order to acquire the victims property and that the following without being employed wouldn’t have made it possible for the offender to acquire the property. Examples of fraudulent means include changing their name, location or their address with the intention to gain the victim’s trust. The use of an external instrument means that the offender has done tangible acts to make their deceit seem as legitimate. The acquisition by the offender of the property without being legally entitled to it requires the presence of an actual property that has been acquired and a correlation between the acquired property and the fraudulent means that have been employed by the offender. The moral element is characterized by the acquisition of the property without it being due and the use of the fraudulent means.
The most important details in this text are the definitions of fraud and who is entitled to file a fraud case or demand compensation for damage. In the UAE, the possessor of the money or property stolen is the victim of fraud, while in the case where the offender is in possession of the property and the property is movable, the original owner is also considered a victim of the committed crime. To protect yourself from being a fraud victim, individuals should be diligent by verifying delegations and legal property attestations/certificates.
