(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Hafiz Mubeen Ashraf looks lost, his visage belies his anger and hurt. His pride is in place when he says, ''I don't want charity, I want justice.''
An uncomfortable silence during our meeting is broken, ''I'm going through hell because I helped a friend in need who has now disappeared.'' He rues the day when he lent his childhood pal S.A.R Dh125,000 in October 2014.
Ashraf swiped his credit cards to withdraw the cash and lent it to S.A.R, who promised to return the money within a week. The pact was broken and his friend has now gone missing with the money. Ashraf is sinking deeper into debt after he recently lost his job.
With a wife and young child to feed, he is spending sleepless nights as he thinks of ways out of this financial mess. ''I'm seeking justice,'' he repeats.....''someone to take notice of my plight and find the culprit who put me in this situation.''
He holds himself together as he narrates his ordeal which is only getting worse by the day. The Pakistani national claims he lent the money to help S.A.R. find a job with a company that promised him a salary of Dh15,000 per month. S.A.R. returned to Pakistan to wait for his employment visa, he claims, but the company in question allegedly reneged on the agreement and did not send it to him.
In December 2014, his friend returned to Dubai on a visit visa, and handed a cheque written out in favour of Ashraf for Dh100,000, which bounced. S.A.R. disappeared again. So Ashraf took the case to the police. A woman named M.D. had signed the cheque and Ashraf filed a complaint with the Barsha police station in February.
Based on his complaint, M.D, was arrested, but she managed to get bail, according to Ashraf. He produces documents to prove his allegations - which include the bounced cheque, Dubai Court documents and the police complaint.
A desperate Ashraf tried contacting S.A.R's family in Pakistan, but to no avail. ''There was a level of trust between us. That was broken by this episode. We even went to college together and I have known him for 18 years. I managed to reach him a couple of times and he kept saying he would repay me the amount he borrowed,'' he says.
But things got worse for Ashraf when he lost his job this April. ''I have to make a minimum payment of Dh8,000 and I'm being chased by banks every day,'' he says. The Pakistan Consulate in Dubai has said they will arrange a lawyer to fight his case, but he will have to bear the costs which he cannot afford as he is without a job. ''How can I pay Dh30,000 for a civil case when I have no job to fall back on?''
He claims he has recordings of his conversations with his former friend in which the man admits owing him money. On S.A.R's current whereabouts, Ashraf says he is in Dubai, working illegally in the JLT area. Ashraf says this fight is about self-respect, about what is rightfully due to him. He admits he was naive. ''But I won't give up.... for the sake of my family.''
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