DUBAI - Dubai’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has issued a decree to form a high-level committee to deal with cases of bounced cheques in real estate deals in the emirate, state news agency WAM reported on Thursday.
The committee will be given wide-ranging powers and its rulings will be binding.
"The committee will settle cases related to dud cheques whether issued by the buyer to the developer or from tenants and beneficiaries of long-term units," WAM reported.
There has been a spurt in cases of bounced cheques in Dubai since the collapse of the city’s once booming property business, leaving developers and investors in financial trouble.
It is a criminal offence in the UAE to bounce a cheque and the issuer can land in jail.
Fearing jail, many people have fled the UAE in the last year when they discovered that they could not honour their cheques after they lost their jobs or their business suffered in the economic downturn.