Man says wife asked him to resign on her behalf

Employer did not check, as woman was on holiday

ABU DHABI // A man convicted of forging a resignation letter and sending it to his ex-wife's employer told the Appeals Court she had asked him to do so on her behalf.

AA, appealing a suspended one-month jail sentence, said that his wife, HS, asked him to send the letter to the hospital at which she was working after another hospital offered her a better position.

He said that she was on holiday when the letter was sent, and made the accusation against him because she held a grudge after failing to swindle him out of their house. The couple wed in 2006; it was unclear when they divorced.

The man, a Syrian with a German passport, said HS often relied on him to manage her businesses and do her paperwork while they were married.

One of the woman's colleagues told the court that staff at the hospital were used to the husband doing her paperwork, so did not question whether the resignation letter was genuine.

"She always asked us to give her financial benefits to her husband," the colleague said when asked if the woman's end-of-service payment was given to AA.

"Was it necessary to accept the resignation before confirming it?" the judge asked.

"We tried calling her but she was away on holiday," the colleague replied.

He said that by the time the woman returned from holiday, the hospital had filled her position.

HS was working part-time at the hospital as she has her own medical centre in Dubai.

A human resource employee at another hospital confirmed AA's claim that his wife was offered a better position, testifying that the plaintiff had visited to discuss an offer for work.

In a previous hearing, the ex-husband said there was a "long background" to the story. He said the wife and her mother almost succeeded in tricking him into surrendering ownership of a US$1 million (Dh3.67m) house that he had bought in Damascus.

A verdict is expected later this month.