DCC 27/92

This case involved an action taken by the Prosecutor's Office against an individual who had issued a bounced cheque and had deliberately included two dates on it to defraud the beneficiary. They had been sentenced to a term in prison by the criminal courts but the appeal court acquitted them as they could not find a crime had been committed. The matter was referred back to the appeal court as it had not properly considered if the defendant had an intention of paying the cheques.

Background

An action was brought by the Prosecutor's Office against a defendant for issuing a cheque for 40,000 AED which had bounced. The Prosecutor alleged that the defendant had deliberately defrauded the cheque's beneficiary in contravention with the Penal Code. The criminal court ordered a prison sentence of three weeks and the defendant appealed. The appeal court acquitted the defendant as they had not been able to find that a crime had been committed. The Prosecutor appealed by cassation arguing that the defendant had intentionally dated the cheque with two dates to defraud the beneficiary, and had no intention of paying the cheque amount.

Decision