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September 12, 2009
For a Bounced Check in Dubai, the Penalty Can Be Years Behind Bars
By ROBERT F. WORTH
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For more than a year, prosecutors have been cracking down on the corruption and kickbacks that thrived during the boom years in this Persian Gulf city-state. Dozens of executives have been arrested and charged in a high-profile effort to show that fraud will no longer be tolerated. Investigators say their cases have uncovered $3.58 billion that was stolen or used as bribe money.
But alongside the con artists and crooks, a rising number of businesspeople have been sent to jail for going into debt. Bouncing a check is a criminal offense here. That fact has begun raising questions about the fairness of Dubai’s laws, especially among the foreigners who make up about 90 percent of the population.
Consider the tale of Ali Fariq, a 33-year-old Iraqi real estate agent now serving a three-year jail term. Mr. Fariq says his ordeal in the Dubai legal system began last year when he was kidnapped and beaten by a diplomat who blamed him for an investment deal gone sour.
The diplomat, an Iraqi named Birhan al-Yacoubi, then forced Mr. Fariq — and later, his brother — to sign checks totaling $600,000, he said. She did not want the money; she knew they did not have it. Instead, she drove the men to a police station, where she presented the freshly signed checks as evidence of fraud, court records show.
The brothers, whose account is supported by police and hospital documents, were arrested, charged and convicted on several counts — one for each check.
The Fariq brothers’ ordeal may be unusual, but it starkly illustrates an inescapable reality: the criminalization of debt has put a formidable weapon in the hands of landlords, banks and other creditors, who can send someone to jail with a single document showing a check has been returned for insufficient funds. It has also complicated Dubai’s efforts to recover from the financial crisis by sending many legitimate but struggling businesspeople to jail, where they find it even harder to repay their debts.
Of course, kidnapping is a crime, too. Prosecutors drew up charges against Ms. Yacoubi, but later dropped them. Calls to the consulate were not returned.
September 12, 2009
But alongside the con artists and crooks, a rising number of businesspeople have been sent to jail for going into debt. Bouncing a check is a criminal offense here. That fact has begun raising questions about the fairness of Dubai’s laws, especially among the foreigners who make up about 90 percent of the population.
Consider the tale of Ali Fariq, a 33-year-old Iraqi real estate agent now serving a three-year jail term. Mr. Fariq says his ordeal in the Dubai legal system began last year when he was kidnapped and beaten by a diplomat who blamed him for an investment deal gone sour.
The diplomat, an Iraqi named Birhan al-Yacoubi, then forced Mr. Fariq — and later, his brother — to sign checks totaling $600,000, he said. She did not want the money; she knew they did not have it. Instead, she drove the men to a police station, where she presented the freshly signed checks as evidence of fraud, court records show.
The brothers, whose account is supported by police and hospital documents, were arrested, charged and convicted on several counts — one for each check.
The Fariq brothers’ ordeal may be unusual, but it starkly illustrates an inescapable reality: the criminalization of debt has put a formidable weapon in the hands of landlords, banks and other creditors, who can send someone to jail with a single document showing a check has been returned for insufficient funds. It has also complicated Dubai’s efforts to recover from the financial crisis by sending many legitimate but struggling businesspeople to jail, where they find it even harder to repay their debts.
Of course, kidnapping is a crime, too. Prosecutors drew up charges against Ms. Yacoubi, but later dropped them. Calls to the consulate were not returned.
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