Bouncing Checks in Dubai

The New York Times reports on the increasing frequency of debtors serving jail time in the boom-gone-bust city of Dubai. In one admittedly unusual case, a diplomat forced a real estate agent to sign checks he obviously could not afford after an investment deal fell through. The diplomat then drove him directly to the police station. Later, the man was sentenced to three years imprisonment for the bounced check. The article emphasizes Dubai’s failure to modernize its legal structures at the same rate of its economic development.