Dubai – More than a half million bounced cheques between January and May 2009

Bounced cheques are regarded legally as fraud, a criminal offence punishable by jail in Dubai and the UAE.

With more than a half-million cheques bounced between January and May of this year alone, the cases have been putting an increasing strain on the legal system.

But now the hard walls of debtors’ prison are beginning to crack.

No longer will home buyers in Dubai who cancel postdated cheques because of a developer’s missed deadlines or broken promises automatically face jail.

Instead of being investigated by police or prosecuted, delinquent tenants and homeowners will be referred to a new judicial committee that will make a binding judgment on whether they should be held to payment. It will also deal with developers who run into financial difficulties and cannot pay their investors.
read the full aricle in The National original source