Man issues Dhs225,000 in dud cheques, verdict today

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal will pronounce on Sunday its verdict regarding the case in which an Arab is accused of giving dud cheques for Dhs225,000 to another Arab.

The defendant pleaded as innocent of the charge levelled to him, noting that he settled the issue with the defendant and paid the agreed on amount but forgot to take the cheques back to be surprised by the plaintiff filing a lawsuit against him.

The defendant said that in 2014 he gave the plaintiff two cheques for a total amount of Dhs55,000, one for Dhs30,000 and the other for Dhs25,000, adding that in 2015, he agreed with the plaintiff to pay Dhs45,000 for the two cheques because he failed to settle the full amount. The plaintiff, however, did not return the cheques to the defendant and the latter forgot to claim them back because he thought that the plaintiff had already got rid of them, he said, adding that he was surprised by the plaintiff filing a lawsuit against him.

The defendant said the plaintiff previously filed another lawsuit against him but he was acquitted by the court at the time, asking the court to pardon him.

Asked by the court if he was charged in other cases, the defendant said he had been jailed for 16 days now pending the cheque-related case. The Court of First Instance ruled that he be fined Dhs5,000, he said, adding that because he did not have the money, he remained in custody.

Last month in a case involving dud cheques the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal  heard the case of a Gulf woman charged with issuing a dud cheque for Dhs569,000 to her husband.

The defendant explained to the court that she gave a blank cheque to her husband for use as a bank guarantee and that her husband promised her that he would tear the cheque as soon as the guarantee was no longer needed. He, however, kept the cheque with him and when a dispute arose between them, he wrote his name on the cheque and filed a complaint against her, she said.

More disputes arose between the woman and her husband and developed into a threat that he would kill her with a sharp tool ‘knife’, she said, adding that her husband later wrote his name on the old cheque and used it against her.