New UAE cheque law effective January 2: What are still considered criminal cases

  DUBAI – While the UAE Central Bank has introduced amendments to decriminalize certain cheque cases in the country, some cases still remain as criminal cases. The amended federal Commercial Transactions law takes effect starting January 2, according to the UAE Central Bank. Under the law, issuing a cheque without sufficient fund is no longer considered a criminal case. However, cases of fraud when issuing a cheque is considered a criminal case. These include: 1. Closing the bank account or withdrawing the entire balance before the cheque can be cashed 2. Intentionally writing or signing a cheque in a way that prevents its cashing 3. Requesting a bank not to cash a cheque before the due date without legal reason, except when the cheque has been lost or if the bearer was declared bankrupt, is also considered a crime. 4. Forging or counterfeiting a cheque 5. Knowingly using a forged or counterfeited cheque 6. Knowingly accepting funds paid through a forged or counterfeited cheque 7. Using a cheque issued in the name of others, inappropriately benefitting from it, or using it in relation to a crime of fraud. If the court reaches a guilty verdict on any of the cheque offences, it may order that the cheque book be withdrawn from the convicted person and that no new cheque books should be issued to him within five years. The convicted person shall be fined no less than Dh50,000 and not exceeding Dh100,000 if he fails to surrender the existing cheque books to the respective banks within 15 fifteen days of notification. On the penalty for forging or counterfeiting a cheque, attributing it to others, or deliberately using a forged cheque, violators will be subject to imprisonment of no less than one year and a fine of between Dh20,000 and Dh100,000. On issuing a cheque in bad faith, this is proven if the account is closed, frozen, the entire fund has been withdrawn, or if the bank was instructed to refrain from lawful payment, or if the person deliberately writes the cheque or sign it in a way that prevents it from being cashed. On the penalty in cases where a cheque crime is committed in the name of a legal person or company, the person in charge of administering the cheque shall not be liable for punishment, except if the person is aware of the crime or if he committed the crime to benefit himself or third parties. Where the liability of the legal person or company is not evident as provided for in the above case, the legal person shall be subject to a penalty of no less than twice the legally applicable penalty for this crime and no more than five times thereof. The court may order the suspension of the business for no more than six months. In case of repetition, it may order the cancelation of the trade licence and dissolve the company. The court shall order the publication of judgments at the expense of the company in two widely-circulated daily newspapers in the UAE, one in Arabic and one in English, or in two e-publishing media, to be determined by a decision of the Minister of Justice, one in Arabic and one in English. According to the UAE Central Bank, any penal case with respect to these crimes shall be abated if the full or the remaining cheque value is paid before the initiation of coercive execution procedures, or should the full or remaining cheque value be paid or a reconciliation is reached before the issuance of final judgment. If a reconciliation is reached after the issuance of a final judgment, the execution of the judgment shall be suspended. ICA/Expat Media
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