Businessman fined Dh50,000 for issuing dud cheques in UAE

Abu Dhabi - Court also ordered him to pay back all the money he owed to the bank.

A UAE businessman, who was convicted of issuing dud cheques to a bank after he defaulted on a Dh1 million loan, has been fined Dh50,000. The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi upheld earlier rulings by lower courts after finding him guilty.
Official court documents stated that the businessman handed two cheques worth Dh1.03 million to a bank in the UAE as collateral for securing a loan. After failing to pay back the loans, the management of the bank referred him to the authorities for prosecution, presenting the cheque as evidence.
Prosecutors had charged the man with issuing two cheques to the bank without having sufficient balance in his bank account.
The court of first instance and the appellate court fined the man Dh50,000 and also ordered him to pay back all the money he owed to the bank.
The man then appealed to UAE's top court, denying the charge. The businessman told the Supreme Court that he had signed the cheque as a commercial guarantee without having a criminal intention. He argued that he signed the cheque to secure a bank loan, but it was not supposed to be deposited and enchased as part of the agreement.
The businessman said he had paid back a part of the loan amount to the bank, but because of some financial difficulties resulting from his businesses making losses, he was unable to pay back the rest.
According to the law, upon dishonouring the cheque, the bank may lodge a criminal complaint against the signatory. This is in accordance with the criminal law, which states: "Detention or a fine shall be imposed on anyone who, in bad faith, gives a draft (cheque) without a sufficient and drawable balance or who, after giving a cheque, withdraws all or part of the balance, making the balance insufficient for settlement of the cheque, or if he orders a drawee not to cash a cheque or makes or signs the cheque in a manner that prevents it from being cashed.
"The same penalty shall apply to anyone who endorses a cheque in favour of another or gives him a bearer draft, knowing that there is no sufficient balance to honour the cheque or that it is not drawable."
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi