Q: I have invested in a company, which they promise to pay me 20% return in March 2015. They paid my returns for about 2 years, though most of the times it was delayed. They stopped paying me almost a year ago and have not paid a single Dirham since then. The company seems to be a fraud because the other investors with whom I am in contact with faced the same issue and their payments are stopped for one year. I am seeking legal advice on how I can recover my money from them.

Q: I opened a free zone company in Dubai 11 years ago. There was no trading activity and has been none since. I closed the company remotely as I was unable to travel to Dubai at the time for health reasons and completed forms necessary, had them notarized here in Europe and translated by a registered translator. All documents sent to the agent in Dubai with a POA but I was informed that they were not accepted by Dubai authorities and that I would have to travel there to close. The bank account was also closed at the time remotely. If I travel to Abu Dhabi will I face problems?

Q: I am a partner in an LLC registered in Dubai, whose license was expired in Nov 2017. I was a passive investor stationed in India and the company was managed my senior partner and MD (Managing director) of the company who was stationed in Dubai. The company was not managed well, the licenses were not renewed and the business activities did not take place. My last visit was in May 2017. The MD of the company is still in Dubai on an earlier visa but didn't get in touch with me and he's not reachable. Now, I want to start a new venture in any free zone on an individual basis. How can I cancel the earlier visa and get a new investor visa in the free zone? Is it necessary to liquidate the old company in order to cancel the visa? Is it possible for me to cancel the visa on an individual basis and apply for new company formation? Please guide me.

Q: Hi. Kindly advise regarding: (1) Closing a professional civil company (management consultancy) in Dubai with 4 partners + 1 local agent. There are 4 partners (all family members) who are out of the UAE. 2 partners have investor visas & 2 have partner visas. 3 visas have expired during July-Sept 18 and 1 Investor visa expiring 17/11 as being out of the country for 6 months+. Online at www.gdrfa.ae on logging in, the 3 expired visas are showing 'Inactive'. Does it mean visas are automatically cancelled & they can come on visit OR visas have to be physically cancelled at the immigration dept? The company has no assets/liability. We want to close the company. The company's labour est card is already cancelled. (2) Effect of a partner's personal credit cards' liability on the company as a he is a partner. In the above company, 2 partners have credit card dues. Is there an impact on 2 aged partners coming back to the UAE if the banks file cases & secure order on attaching the defaulting partners share in above company? (There is no business/assets). Can 2 aged partners be asked to submit the company a/cs?

Q: Compensation for poor performance & false accusations. We hired a consultancy agency to provide us with their services. During our working relationship, the deliveries were consistently late, and the service was unreliable. We gave them numerous chances to improve performance and meet timelines. The details of these problems have been communicated to them repeatedly but they did not address the problems in a timely manner, causing us extra expenses in addition to mental and emotional agony. During the project, my father passed away & they have used this matter as an excuse to pause work on the project without notifying us causing us further delays. Recently, we serviced them a notice for contract termination for their failure to adhere to mentioned services. In response, they have wrongfully accused me of talking badly about their staff & making insulting & inappropriate comments about their work which have made the working relationship difficult. Do we have legal rights to pursue?

Q: I paid a company AED 5000 by cash deposit into their bank account as an initial payment for a job that they didn't do. So I contacted them to refund the payment telling them I will file a police case against them. They started stalling until they stopped answering their mobile phones and stopped responding to emails, so I asked around some common work acquaintances for their address or if they know anything about them. I received an email two days ago from them showing they filed an online case for slander and other claims that are pure lies against us as well as demanding compensation, it has a reference number...etc. I want to know how to deal with this because all their accusations are pure lies, they filed it as a way to escape from paying my AED 5000 back. I want to know the procedure and the steps to solve this. Thanks

The provisions of this Law apply to the commercial companies established in the UAE and the foreign companies that have established in the UAE a base to conduct any activity therein or established a branch or representative office. The Law abrogates Federal Law No. (8) of 1984 Concerning Commercial Companies.