UAE cops warn borrowers vs. issuing blank checks

Filipinos who borrow money in the United Arab Emirates may have to think several times over before they issue blank checks as a guarantee of payment.

Dubai police said such a practice is one of the major reasons people are jailed, according to a report on UAE-based news site Gulf News.

“We want to change people’s and companies’ mentality about checks. Checks should be used to fulfill monetary transactions and not as a guarantee that a certain amount will be paid,” it quoted Col. Abdullah Khadim Surour, Director of Al Barsha Police Station, as saying.

People caught and jailed for bounced checks can regain their freedom only after they repay their debts, the Gulf News report said.

Brig. Mohammad Nasser Al Razouqi, deputy director of the Department of Criminal Investigation (CID), said police first try to contact the person who issued the check after receiving a complaint and give them a month's grace period to settle their debt.

“If they refuse or they cannot, then the case goes to public prosecution.” he said.

Dubai police had mounted campaign to drum up attention against bounced checks and checks issued in "bad faith."

Citing police records, the Gulf News report said bounced checks issued in Dubai from 2011 to 2013 amounted to Dh36.2 billion.

The checks amounted to Dh14.6 billion in 2011, but fell to Dh12.2 billion in 2012 and to Dh9.4 billion in 2013.

For the first three months of 2014, the bounced checks were worth Dh2.23 billion.

Meanwhile, Al Razouqi advised banks against issuing checkbooks to people with cases of bounced checks, or giving loans to people who are not creditworthy. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

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