Q: My husband wrote a guarantee cheque for a friend who was in jail. He had a reputable business and my husband assumed upon his release his friend would be able to access his frozen account and make repayments. The so-called friend ran away and left my husband with a bounced cheque of AED 1048000. There is a big case against his ex-friend from many he has defrauded, it has been in the newspapers and affected many innocent people. The cheque has obviously bounced and a case has been filed with the police. We never took a penny of this money and have all our statements to prove this. Unfortunately, the payee doesn't care and wants money regardless, even though he knows the culprit has run away. 1. What is the process? 2. What are our options? 3. Could we get away with a fine? 4. If we present all the people who have been defrauded by this ex-friend to the court and our bank statements as proof, do we have a chance? 5. Will he go to jail and what kind of sentence is likely?

Q: Hi, I needed to know if the court issues a judgment of 2 or 3 months jail term in cheque bounce case, is there a way to reverse the judgment or avoid the sentence? Possibly if the creditor withdraws the case? I have received a judgment of a jail term of 2 months for AED 1 Million security cheque bounce against a loan that is 75% paid off and a 3 months jail term for multiple cheques to a single supplier valued at AED 48,000.00 approx. What can I do avoid jail terms and wondering how AED 48k cumulative value would result in jail term? Appreciate a solution for this. Thanks.

Q: I have filed a case on a bounced cheque of 1.3 million AED. This is a criminal case filed in Sharjah, UAE. It's been two months and this individual has not been arrested yet. Furthermore, he is operating his business as usual and earning good profits. What is the procedure to ask the court to seal his business premises so he is pressured to pay?

Q: Hi, Could you please let me know what is the rule for cheque return that we give for our loan guarantee? We took a loan one year ago for AED 770,000 and now we can not pay the instalments. Our cheque is AED 1,200,000 and the bank deposited the cheque. They said they will open a case in Sharjah, and we don't know the cheque return rules in Sharjah. My husband is out of the country now and he wants to come back, but we're afraid if they open the case in Sharjah as we heard that they keep the person in jail until returning the full amount. Our loan was 4 years and the instalment was AED 25000. We paid 8 instalments. Now, the cheque returned and we don't know whether they've opened a case or no and if they opened what we should do. Please advise me if it's better for my husband not to come back to the UAE or to Sharjah. Also, will they fine him around AED 20000 without jail or they will keep him in jail. Thanks and regards

س: السلام عليكم، أتعامل مع شركة منذ سنوات بالشيكات الآجلة، ولظروف معينة ارتجعت شيكات لي واتفقنا على السداد بالتقسيط وفعلاً سددت 12000 درهم. تفاجأت بوجود بلاغ بقيمة 50000 كاملة. تم توقيفي وإيداع جواز سفري في قسم شرطة الشارقة البحيرة وتم حظري من السفر. عندما تواصلت معهم طلبوا مني تسديد المبلغ البالغ 50000 في قسم الشرطة لرفع البلاغ ومن ثَم سعيدون المبلغ الإضافي 12000 درهم لي نقدًا! هل أستطيع تحويل الموضوع إلى المحكمة المدنية؟ وفي حال أمكنني ذلك هل يتم رفع منع السفر عني؟

Q: Hi, We have a bounced cheque case registered against us for AED 1.5 million in Umm al Quwain and AED 200000 in Fujairah at the police station. We would like to know the procedures of the police station and court for these two emirates. Do they provide a fine as punishment or jail term? Can we request installment payment?

Q: I have a cheque bounce case against me of 63830 Dhs and I paid 14000 out of this. I submitted a petition to get this money adjusted in the case balance. It was approved but the adjustment is not done yet. The other party's attorney has meanwhile requested the court to seize bank accounts, RTA, DLD, Central Bank... etc. to recover the money. I have a travel ban also. I have 2 Queries - How much time do I get to make all payments after all the seize requests has been applied to court. I mean how soon do Banks, RTA, DLD departments reply to court? - Can I get arrested if Banks do not get money in my account? I am willing to settle out of court. But as 14,000 was paid in the party's personal account, they did not acknowledge that in court despite I shared proof. So settlement if any, I want to do in court. Please suggest.

Q: Hello, I took out a loan in the amount of 4,000,000 DHS, and I repaid the principal amount but I refused to pay the interest which was 800,000 DHS, I still own a property in Dubai and the value is around 3,000,000 DHS. The bank wants to take the whole property as collateral for my debt. Can the bank do this? Or do they have to sell the property, take what I owe them, and pay me the rest? Or will they be taking the whole property? Are they allowed to do such a thing?

In the UAE, cheque bounce is a very frequent problem faced by people during their span in the country. It is covered under the purview of Commercial Transactions Law, and legal implications/penalties can be financially severe and daunting for more “serious” offenses. Bounced cheque issues may arise in a variety of commercial transactions, including but not limited to, companies’ exchanges, bank loans, property rents or purchases, and individual transactions.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

This Law applies to merchants, as well as to all acts of commerce carried out in the UAE by any person even though he be not a trader. Commercial matters regarding which specific Federal laws are issued shall be subject to the provisions of such laws, and to the provisions hereof which do not contradict with said laws.

The provisions of this Decree by Law amend the Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 by replacing Clause (4) of Article (379) as well as Articles (600), (617), (641), (642), (643), (644), and adding new articles numbered (635) Bis, (641) Bis (1), (641) Bis (2), (641) Bis (3), (641) Bis (4), (643) Bis (1), (643) Bis (2), (644) Bis (1) and (644) Bis (2). The Decree-Law also repeals Articles (401), (402) and (403) of the Federal Law No. (3) of 1987.