FUJAIRAH - The Fujairah Court of Appeal recently upheld the judgement of the Court of First Instance that sentenced an Indian woman, her brother and her sister each to one year in prison for forgery to make her nephew get the right of inheritance to her husband's assets.
According to the case, the first accused, Amnah Habib, was married to a UAE citizen, Abdullah Saeed. Amnah, her brother Abu Backer and their sister Aisha Habib managed to convince Abdullah Saeed, who was old and dying, to issue a birth certificate showing Abu Backer's son is actually his.
Saeed Abdullah Saeed lodged a complaint with the Fujairah police, accusing his stepmother (Amnah) of forging documents of his father which allowed her to obtain a UAE passport for her brother's son showing Abdullah Saeed is his father. This gave Amnah's nephew the right to Abdullah Saeed's property following the latter's death.
The police conducted a comprehensive investigation. They found that Amnah did not bear any children for Abdullah Saeed during their married life.
The police arrested Amnah, Abu Backer and Aisha while the fourth accused, Amnah's nephew, escaped to India. The police referred the three accused to the Public Prosecution which framed the charges and referred them to the Court of First Instance.
The court sentenced each of the four Indians to one year's imprisonment but dropped the charges against Abdullah Saeed as he had died.
Amnah, Abu Backer and sister Aisha approached the Fujairah Court Of Appeal which rejected their appeal and upheld the lower court's verdict.