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Dubai: A debt-ridden Romanian expat is desperately looking for help, legal assistance in particular, so she can clear her name in a series of cases, which she claims she had no knowledge about.
Vali Niculcea, 33, said, “My life is a mess. My visa has expired, my passport is not with me and I have court cases against me as I have an outstanding of Dh280,000. But I can’t repay as I can’t work. I have started to lose all hope.”
Niculcea, who first came to the UAE to work in a coffee shop, said her life was a smooth sail until 2015 when she entered into a business partnership with a friend to open a shisha accessories shop in Ajman.
My life is a mess. My visa has expired, my passport is not with me and I have court cases against me as I have an outstanding of Dh280,000.
“The shop was registered in my name, but my friend ran it. I signed the cheques but had little idea where they were going,” she claimed.
She said the business did well initially. “But in January 2017, my friend persuaded me to go home (Romania) for a couple of weeks as some things needed to be sorted out at the shop. He said he would let me know once things got better, so I could come back. But there was no communication and I began to get restless,” she alleged.
Determined to find out what was wrong, she said she flew back to Dubai in August 2017. “But I was arrested on arrival and later released. I discovered that there was a case filed against me for non-payment of the last rent cheque for the flat I lived in. Over the next few days, I discovered all my belongings, including two rabbits, in the flat had disappeared. To my utter shock, I came to know that there were some bounced cheque cases too against me.”
She said she has been living a nightmare ever since. “My trust was betrayed and I feel so let down and helpless. I have nowhere to go now and am living on dole. My passport is in the courts. I cannot be employed, so how can I repay the huge debt? I urgently need a lawyer, but cannot afford one. Please, please help me get legal assistance,” she pleaded.
“I am not a bad person, all I want is to go home after clearing my name,” she added.
