The Dubai Court of Appeal has overturned a one-year prison sentence handed down by the Court of Misdemeanours to a man accused of issuing multiple dishonored cheques totaling Dh7.4 million to a now-deceased investor. The appellate court ruled that the criminal case had expired under the statute of limitations, as the legally prescribed period for misdemeanors had passed before the case was filed. Case records indicate that the 48-year-old defendant was initially tried for issuing several cheques in bad faith. The lower court sentenced him to one year in jail in February. The defendant appealed, arguing that the cheques were part of an investment agreement that began in 2014, when the account was active. Alaa Nasr, the defendant’s lawyer, said the court recognized the investment relationship as beginning between 2014 and 2015, marking the effective date of cheque delivery. Under UAE law, the statute of limitations for misdemeanors expires five years from the date of cheque delivery, not from the date written on the cheque or its bank submission. The cheques had been re-dated by an heir in November 2024, more than five years after the original delivery, prompting the court to overturn the sentence. The cheques, drawn on a local bank, were linked to an account that had been closed for years. He also admitted to issuing undated cheques. A court-appointed financial expert confirmed that the deceased had invested Dh7.4 million in the defendant’s medical facility without formal contracts or a defined profit-sharing mechanism. The cheques had been handed over as guarantees for the investment, undated at the time, and one of the heirs later added dates after the investor’s death.
