'Ex-wife's grudge left me in court'

A doctor sues her ex-husband for forging a letter stating that she was resigning from her job.

ABU DHABI // A man convicted of faking his doctor ex-wife's job resignation appealed his case yesterday.

AA said she made the accusation because she held a grudge against him after he won back a house she had tried to take.

He was given a one-month suspended sentence for forgery by the Court of First Instance.

His former wife, a Syrian medic, told the appeals judge yesterday that she went to work after a holiday to check her schedule but was told she had handed in her resignation and it had been accepted.

"They told me, 'your husband resigned for you'," she said.

She claimed the hospital refused to cancel her resignation because the owner was a friend of her ex-husband.

"Even after the [forgery] verdict was issued, they [the hospital] refused to return me," she said.

Her former spouse, a Syrian with a German passport, said the couple wed in 2006 and shared control of their finances. It was unclear when they divorced.

"She had my credit card and withdrew money with it and signed on my behalf," he told the court.

He said she relied on him to manage her businesses and do her paperwork.

"She is very lazy and dependent when it comes to administrative procedures," he said.

The doctor has her own medical centre in Dubai and was working part-time at a hospital in the capital.

Her ex-husband said that while she was on holiday, he found her a better job at another hospital. He said they had both agreed that he would resign on her behalf to make the shift to the new job.

"There is a long background to the story," he said. "I had bought a house worth US$1 million (Dh3.67m) in Damascus and while we were on holiday in Europe, during which she was sleeping with me and expressing passionate love, she had her mother transfer the house under her name."

He said his mother-in-law convinced him to assign power of attorney to her after claiming there was a good offer from a buyer. Instead, she sold the house to her daughter.

"As soon as I found out I flew to Damascus and thank God was able to win my house back," he said.

The ex-husband's defence attorney said the Court of First Instance issued its verdict without listening to witnesses or investigating the resignation letter.

He said he would present in court the original letter with the words "on her behalf, her husband" next to the signature.

The case was adjourned until May 10.