Dubai Court Clears Two Accused of Forging Dh5.9M Cheques Over Lack of Evidence

The Dubai Misdemeanour Court has acquitted two individuals accused of forging unofficial documents and cheques worth Dh5.9 million, ruling that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.

The court also dismissed the related civil claim against the defendants, ordering the claimant to bear the legal costs and lawyers' fees after concluding that liability had not been established.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the owner of a company, who alleged that former company officials had misused several blank cheques that had already been signed. According to the complaint, the accused filled in the cheque values, due dates and beneficiary details before presenting four cheques to two local banks in an attempt to obtain payment. The cheques were subsequently returned because of insufficient funds.

The Public Prosecution charged the pair with forging three cheques issued from the company's bank account and another drawn on the complainant's personal account. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants knowingly used the forged cheques in an attempt to obtain Dh5.9 million. One of the accused also faced a separate charge of embezzling company cheques entrusted to him through his employment for the purpose of settling the company's financial obligations.

The defendant who appeared before the court denied all allegations, maintaining that he had played no role in issuing the cheques. He argued that the criminal complaint had been filed only after a labour court had ordered the company to pay his outstanding employment dues.

His legal team submitted documents outlining the nature of his duties and detailing previous employment disputes with the company in support of the defence. The second defendant did not attend the proceedings despite having been legally notified.

After examining the complainant's testimony and evidence from the company's accountant, the court found significant inconsistencies regarding how the cheques had been delivered, who had received them and the stage at which each defendant had been implicated in the complaint.

The court also noted that the accountant was unable to identify the serial numbers or values of some of the disputed cheques and could not confirm the contents of a sealed envelope that he claimed to have handed to one of the defendants.

Commenting on the ruling, the defence said the judgment reaffirmed the fundamental principle of criminal justice that convictions must be based on clear, consistent and conclusive evidence rather than assumptions or contradictory testimony. It argued that the mere appearance of a person's name on a cheque was, by itself, insufficient to establish forgery or embezzlement.

The defence added that the court had carefully examined the sequence of events, the timing of the complaints and the documentary evidence before concluding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges with sufficient criminal evidence and that other plausible explanations remained unresolved.

According to the defence, the dismissal of the civil claim was a natural consequence of the claimant's failure to prove that the defendants had committed any wrongful act that caused compensable damage.

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