Court revokes verdict in Dhs28m cheque case

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

The Court of Cassation in Dubai has ruled to return a case of a fictitious cheque valued at Dhs28 million to the Court of Appeal to reconsider the lawsuit, while revoked the judgment of a 3-year-jail term issued against the defendant.

Earlier, the Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant to three years in prison in absentia. The defendant then appealed against the verdict with the Court of Appeal, which rejected the appeal and upheld the judgment. Again, the defendant appealed against the judgment with the Court of Cassation, where the appeal was accepted and the verdict revoked.

The case dates back to the time when the plaintiff filed a complaint with the police against the defendant, a manager of a Dubai-based company, accusing him of issuing a fictitious cheque valued at Dhs28m.

The case was referred to the Court of Misdemeanours, where a verdict of a 3-year-jail term was issued in absentia against the defendant, who reportedly failed to appear before the Court because he was abroad.

When the defendant returned to the country, he objected to the judgment, arguing that he had not issued that cheque and demanded that the signature on it to be examined by an expert.

Accordingly, the cheque was examined by the Criminal Laboratory, which confirmed that the attested signature of the defendant with the bank did not match that one on the cheque. However, the Court of First Instance rejected the objection and continued on issuing the same verdict on the fact that it was a fictitious cheque according to the Article 401 of the Penal Code.