A British expat claims he has been left homeless and trapped in a Dubai Debt Collection hell following threats from local Debt Collectors.
Jonathan Castle aged 59, made the move to Dubai in 2002 to live the life of dreams and glamorous living. Until 2010, he was a successful copywriter for a top advertising agency reports the Scottish Sun.
Unfortunately for Mr Castle, the situation quickly changed and when work dried up, he began accessing credit cards from Emirates Bank and readily admits he got caught up in the glamorous “Dubai Lifestyle”.
London born Mr Castle grew up in Thurso, Scotland and certainly would not have been prepared for what was to follow once he had stopped making the required payments on his credit card debts.
Local heavy handed debt collectors started to bombard him with calls. There instances where they also turned up at his workplace demanding money. Mr Castle claims that one debt collector even suggested he rent out his wife as a prostitute to pay off his debts.
Mr Castle tried desperately to get on top of his debts by selling his car, moving to a less affluent area and rarely attending social functions.
Even after all the cutbacks, he still has not been able to meet his payments and in Dubai, unpaid debts can be punishable by lengthy jail time.
The desperate expat has labelled his experiences as horrendous, especially the threatening nature of the UAE’s unlicensed debt collectors.
The Emirates NBD bank has now filed a Police complaint against Mr Castle which means he cannot get another visa effectively meaning he cannot work so he has no nope of discharging the debts.
The Police case also comes with a travel ban meaning he cannot leave the country intil any outstanding debts are paid.
Radha Stirling of UK based NGO Detailed in Dubai said “UAE banking laws are in desperate need of modernisation
“The fact that the bank knows the debtor cannot pay from inside jail and yet will keep them there indefinitely until a relative bails them out”