Views - current dated

Is this your cheque?

Yes
Are you the one who signed this cheque?
Yes
Did you deposit enough funds to clear this cheque?
No
Did you bring cash with you to replace these cheques?
No
Then wait …
We stood for a while without understanding the hidden meaning of that ‘wait’.
To trace back, I was at a police station to settle a dud cheque
case for a good friend of mine.
Sir…

Before my friend could speak, the policeman said, “I very well know the long story you are planning to tell, the story of a businessman who dreamt about building an empire, the number of jobs you managed to generate in this country, the contributions you have made to the development of this country…up to how you got cheated by a loan shark.

“But dear, ignorance of law is no excuse. For us a dud cheque is a dud cheque.” Most of the businessmen who get caught in dud cheque cases have similar stories to tell, maybe with minute twists in the script! The nightmare continues! More cheques were presented, some signed by my friend, others by his company. There were also cheques settled ages ago but not collected from clients.

Believe me, four more clients hurried to present dud cheques on the same day at the same police station against my friend. Fire travels a bit slow when compared to the speed of bad news! “Do you have a lawyer?” I whispered into my friend’s ears though it appeared loud as the room was filled with a scary silence. Unfortunately, the lawyer had not done much. He only attempted to convince my friend by saying, “Don’t worry, see you in court.”

And as promised the lawyer met him in court. Was he there to tell my friend, “See you in jail or ask your buddy to arrange funds!” Lawyers most often seem to be helpless in dud cheque cases. Most of the expat businessmen use cheques in the form of guarantees and my friend was no different. It is a normal practice in Bahrain to accept and demand assurance through cheques.

Loan sharks pump oxygen to most of the expat businessmen simply for the reason that there is no way to get a loan without providing collateral. Unfortunately, loan sharks are like double-edged swords. They make sure to collect enough documents before charging exorbitant interest. My friend had enough assets, but converting them to cash wasn’t an easy task.

No doubt, entrepreneurs are the backbone of any economy; to create more jobs you need more entrepreneurs. To create more entrepreneurs, we need to remove the fear factor from people over taking risks. When a country goes through economic crisis, businessmen are the one who suffers the most. Many expats run away over fears of getting arrested. The number of abandoned cars at the Dubai International Airport during the time of recession serves testimony to this fear.

It was then Dubai government tried something new. They began imposing fines on dud cheques (minor offences) rather than jail sentences. And reports say it reduced the number of absconders while encouraging banks to restructure debts. Prison budget also fell subsequently. Unlike the UAE, Bahrain laws don’t offer the waiver of criminal complaint in dud cheque cases. A claimant must choose to waive their right to the criminal complaint. If they don’t decide in favour, the legal course will follow.

I think there needs a debate over ‘decriminalising the bouncing of cheques’. Do we need an amendment to the provisions in the penal code, which presumes bad faith in such cases? I feel the authorities should be considerate enough to give businessmen punished for such crimes access to Internet and other facilities so that he can still run the show behind bars. Let me summarise, cheques are boomerangs that will hurt if not handled with care. Whenever I see my CFO searching for the details of any old cheques, the four questions and fear begin to haunt me. Is this your cheque?...