UAE: Expat cheque fraudsters no longer risk jail
2013-01-01 16:34
Dubai - The United Arab Emirates will stop imprisoning expatriates for
writing cheques that bounce, Abu Dhabi daily The National reported on Tuesday,
citing a senior official.
The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on loans, which is a criminal
offence in the Gulf Arab monarchy, were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October
after a royal decree.
"In line with the directives of Sheikh Khalifa... and in the spirit of
fairness and equality, the courts have stopped as of last month accepting
collateral cheques presented as a criminal tool against expatriate debt
defaulters," Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, head of the legal affairs department
at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs was quoted saying.
In July a British businessman who had been jailed for nearly three years in
Dubai for writing bad cheques was released when his conviction was overturned
following a seven-week hunger strike.
The UAE has no bankruptcy laws to protect debtors and many have called for
the decriminalisation of bounced cheques.
"Federal public prosecutions in the country have, indeed, released
expatriate detainees as has been the case of their Emirati counterparts who
were freed last October," The National quoted judge Jassem Saif Buossaiba,
head of the judicial inspection department at the Justice Ministry, as saying.
