Dubai appeal court overturns one-year jail term in Dh7.4m bounced cheques case due to time bar

Dubai: The Dubai Court of Appeal has overturned a one-year prison sentence issued by the Court of Misdemeanours against a man accused of issuing multiple dishonoured cheques worth a total of Dh7.4 million to a now-deceased investor, Al Khaleej Arabic daily reported.

The court ruled that the criminal case had expired due to the statute of limitations, noting that the legally prescribed time for misdemeanours had passed before the case was initiated.

According to case records, the 48-year-old defendant was referred to trial on charges of issuing several cheques in bad faith to the victim, who later passed away. The cheques, drawn on a local bank, were found to be linked to an account that had been closed for years.

The lower court had sentenced the defendant to one year in jail in February, but he appealed, arguing that the cheques were issued as part of an investment agreement starting in 2014, when the account was active. He also acknowledged issuing undated cheques.

A court-appointed financial expert confirmed that the deceased had invested Dh7.4 million in the defendant’s medical facility without written contracts or a defined profit mechanism, and the cheques were provided as a guarantee for the invested capital. The expert added that the cheques were handed over undated and that one of the heirs added dates only after the investor’s death.

Dr Alaa Nasr, the defendant’s legal representative, said the court considered the investment relationship as starting between 2014 and 2015, marking the effective date of cheque delivery. Under UAE law, the statute of limitations for misdemeanours expires five years from cheque delivery, not from the date written on the cheque or its submission to the bank.

The court noted that the cheques were re-dated by one of the heirs in November 2024, more than five years after the original handover.