Dubai: Dubai’s highest court has rejected a special petition, lodged by British businessman Safi Qurashi, in which he sought to have his Dh7 million bounced cheque case dropped.
The Dubai Cassation Court rejected Qurashi’s petition after Presiding Judge Mohammad Nabeel Riyadh decided that the defendant issued a cheque worth Dh7,191,175 that bounced due to lack of funds.
In September 2010, the Cassation Court confirmed a three-year jail term against Qurashi for issuing the aforementioned cheque.
He was also sentenced to four years in jail in two other cases for issuing bounced cheques worth more than Dh210 million in total.
Qurashi’s lawyer Eisa Bin Haider told Gulf News earlier that his client faced three bounced cheque cases against him in total, until the fourth and recent case was lodged against him at Jebel Ali Police Station.
Last week, the Cassation Court looked into two special petitions that were lodged by Qurashi, who asked the court to drop the cases against him because he already paid the amounts of the cheques.
Advocate Bin Haider said: “According to the Cassation Court’s decision last week, the judge dropped the cases against Qurashi because he was convinced that the amount of the cheques was paid. However a new police complaint was lodged against him on January 2, for issuing a bounced cheque worth Dh6 million. We lodged three special petitions in which we asked prosecutors to release Qurashi because he had paid the amounts of the cheques. The three petitions were referred to the highest court.”
However no comment could be obtained from Bin Haider concerning Monday’s decision.
Qurashi, who was released last week following nearly four years (out of a seven-year jail term) he spent in Dubai Central Jail, remains on bail pending trial in the fourth case.
A senior prosecutor told Gulf News that the newest case has been referred to the Dubai Misdemeanour Court and a hearing is to be scheduled soon.
The British businessman was accused of bouncing three cheques during property deals in Dubai.
