Brit businessman jailed for 37 years in Qatar for a bounced cheque

Brit businessman jailed for 37 years in Qatar for a bounced CHEQUE fears he will die in prison

A Brit businessman, Jonathan Nash, caged for 37 years in Qatar over a bounced cheque fears he may never see his family again. The 48-year-old, from High Wycombe, Bucks, has not seen his two children and elderly mum in three years. He worries he will die behind bars in one of the world’s harshest prisons after being dealt the hefty sentence in December.

In a phone call behind bars he told a friend: “I’m not sure that I will ever get out”, reports the Mail Online.

The distraught businessman continued: “What is causing me the most pain is that I may never see my family again. I don’t know who else to turn to.”

Nash, who was the former CEO of construction commercial company Top House, believes he was the victim of a dirty tricks campaign which led to clients hastily cashing in cheques. He claims this, coupled with an internal dispute, led to the company blocking payments.

As the 48-year-old had written the cheques himself he was personally accountable under Qatari law and was thrown in jail in March 2015.

He has spent the last three years in the Central Prison in the country’s capital Doha. Prisoners share cockroach-infested cells with 12 other inmates and have to sleep on a wafer thin mattress or the cold, hard floor.

Before Christmas he was sentenced to 37 years in prison for fraud, meaning he will not make it out until he is 85-years-old. The sentence was handed out in Nash’s absence as he was not given any opportunity to explain himself or given any formal legal representation.

Nash’s spell in one of the world’s harshest prisons has seen him missing important landmarks in his teenage daughter’s life.

Daughter Katie, 17 said: “I haven’t hugged my Dad in over three years – my dad has missed my GCSE results and my school prom. The last time I saw him I was 13-years-old.”

Mum Jennie, 77, dubbed the ordeal every mother’s nightmare and said strict prison rules means she goes weeks at a time not hearing anything from her son.

Pressure group Detained in Dubai is now fighting his case.

“Jonathan has a young family; he did not intend for the cheques to bounce, he did not profit from them, and the decision to refuse payment was not his.”

Source Credit: The Sun 

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