Emirates NBD seeks revenge on American customer. They don’t want his money. They just want him to lose his job. American man preparing to take criminal action over “outrageous” harassment & defamation. An American national was contacted by Trust DC on behalf of ENBD to settle a AED55,000 debt (apx. £11,000). While the bank was willing to agree to a reduction on the outstanding amount, the customer was unable to pay in a lump sum and so offered instalments instead. The bank refused to believe that he was unable to pay the amount, because his income was three times higher in the UAE than in the UK and they imagined he was a "high earner". Despite us offering the bank his payslips and tax r

Although we have seen numerous arrests over the years relating to cybercrime, the application of this law to social media insults, is certainly on the increase. If not prosecuted under cybercrime laws specifically, standard criminal law relating to insults will be applied. Take care when using social media in the UAE, taking into account that anything that is posted, is evidence. Comments may be misunderstood or misinterpreted and there is a growing culture of using the police to report things that would largely be ignored in other countries. Just this month, an Emirati man was handed a three month sentence for a singular insulting word that he typed into the comments of his brother’s Instag

If you had the same ‪‎Cybercrime‬ laws in your country, would you be in jail too? ‪Emirati‬ man sentenced to three months in ‪‎prison‬ and fined for posting a 1 word insulting comment on an ‪Instagram‬ picture. This is a fine example of why the cybercrime legislation needs revision. No one should be‪ jailed‬ over an insulting comment on social media. The National News reports: Man jailed and fined Dh250,000 for insulting brother on Instagram SHARJAH // An Emirati man was fined Dh250,000 and sentenced to three months in jail for insulting his brother on Instagram. The victim reported the incident to Khor Fakkan Police, saying he posted his picture on Instagram and was later surprised to read

Most people in the UAE, live month to month and have little savings. Their bank accounts can easily be frozen if for example, their employer is late paying, if they are made redundant or simply encounter unexpected real world troubles, such as hospital bills, injury or illness. There is no differentiation between “won´t pay rent” and “can´t pay rent”. If they can not afford to pay the rent or their cheques bounce, why not freeze what little they have left in their accounts for food. Of course, it is unacceptable to voluntarily default on rent payments on a contract entered by both parties in good faith, but there needs to be some sort of differentiation between those who choose not to pay, a

Forced to celebrate Eid in police detention due to governmental staff holidays Numerous unfortunate souls were forced to remain in detention due to government holidays and staff deficits. Many of these people were due to be released and were ready to pay fines and judgment orders but were unable to do so until the following Sunday. Although detention facilities were in operation, key staff whose sign off was required, were not available to facilitate releases. The Courts were out of operation so civil judgments could not be paid. The government did not provide any alternative payment methods for inmates. It is our belief that if the UAE government can maintain the operation of detention f

British Citizen who had never visited the UAE was held over MISTAKEN IDENTITY while in transit, travel plans ruined. A British Citizen was arrested in transit through Dubai. He was advised that there was a case against him and given no further information, despite having never been to the UAE in his life. He tried to argue this fact with authorities at the airport but was held for four days before he was able to attend a hearing. It emerged that he was arrested simply because he had a common name and shared the same date of birth as the man he was mistaken for. After the identity issues were clarified, a bureaucratic nightmare began that lead him into a series of back and forth visitations b

Oaktree executive Martin Graham may be looking to settle with the Gulmar Offshore Oil Company who alleged he stole $264 million. The UAE then listed Graham on Interpol, which lead to his arrest in the UK. Graham faces extradition proceedings in the Westminster Magistrates Court though it is unlikely the UAE would be successful with their application. The fact that Martin seeks to settle, does not, despite what one might imagine, indicate guilt and does not indicate that he is fearful of losing the extradition case. I imagine that he is looking to secure his freedom for the future. Even if the UK rejects the UAE´s extradition application, Graham´s future travel could be restricted which h