Man cleared of issuing Dh5M dud cheque

abu dhabi — An Abu Dhabi court has acquitted a businessman of issuing a Dh5 million dud cheque to a firm. Official court documents stated that the Arab had given out the cheque to representatives of the company in the Capital.

However, when the company’s employees deposited the cheque at the bank, it was rejected because it lacked the required signatures.

Bank officials told the firm that the cheque was for a joint account and that two persons were supposed to sign it in order to be cleared. The company’s management then filed a complaint with the authorities, accusing the man of issuing them a dud cheque.

Prosecutors charged the businessman with giving out a dud cheque to the company. Officers said the man was aware that the cheque couldn’t be cashed because it lacked the necessary authorised signatures.

The man denied the charge throughout his trial at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance.

His lawyer Ali Al Abadi argued that his client didn’t commit any crime and that his only mistake was that he forgot to get the signature of the second person “which in itself was not a crime”. “Besides, there is no evidence to prove that my client had no right to issue a cheque for the said bank account,” said Al Abadi.

He noted that the bank would have advised the company management to take back the cheque to his client so it could be signed by the second signatory instead of pressing charges against him.

After hearing the Arab man’s defence, the court decided to clear him when it confirmed that there was no criminal intent in the case and that the cheque had not bounced.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com