A crowdfunder has been began for a British businesswoman who ended up in a Dubai jail over nearly £20,000 of unpaid rent.
Kerry Nwachukwu, 44, from London, is unable to depart the UAE after travel bans were imposed on her until she pays her debts to 2 landlords.
She moved to town in August 2022 together with her son John, 25, to establish a marketing agency after giving up her job as marketing director at Sotheby’s.
But by late 2024 and into 2025, she entered a legal and financial crisis over two separate Rental Dispute Centre cases.
Kerry got £19,000 into rent arrears with two landlords after greater than £10,000 in client contracts went unpaid.
Due to legal proceedings against her, she has been unable to renew her UAE business licence since January, while her financial situation has also been worsened by the war within the Middle East.
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On April 22 this 12 months, unaware an arrest warrant had already been issued against her, she was detained in a shopping center on her way back from talking to a rental clerk.
She was taken to Bur Dubai police station where she was held for 2 weeks before being sent to Al Awir Central Jail.
She said: ‘It’s a criminal offence once I don’t pay rent, but when businesses don’t pay people, there is no such thing as a legal consequence in any respect.’
Describing conditions within the prison, Kerry said she didn’t initially have a mattress, almost got into fights and met ‘so many dangerous characters.’
What little money she had, she spent £3 on a pair of slippers to avoid walking on urine within the toilets because other inmates peed on the ground.
She said: ‘I used to be put inside with individuals who’ve murdered people. I used to be in a single cell with individuals who were selling drugs.
‘How is that even possible? Only for not paying your rent, you might be thrown right into a horrible, horrible jail.
‘I became a individual that I don’t need to be – it’s terrifying I could stay awake every night, I used to be feeling someone’s going to leap at me.’
She paid £3,000 to be released in mid-May under a 15-month repayment plan after repeated requests from her son.
Nevertheless, the identical judge reversed that call three weeks later and gave her 15 days to repay as a substitute.
That period is now up and Kerry, who warns in regards to the dark side of the ‘glitz and glamour’ of living in Dubai, fears she might be arrested at any moment.
Her lawyer has told her that if she will be able to raise £4,000 it might persuade the judge to cancel the present arrest warrant, but even this just isn’t guaranteed.
Ultimately she desires to return home to the UK.
She said: ‘If I had any means to literally pay the courts today, I’ll be on a plane straight out of here.
‘I might not even look back. All my stuff is in storage, I’ll get a courier to bring it to the UK. I’ll literally just run out with my two suitcases and I won’t even look back.’
Her family and friends within the UK have arrange a GoFundMe page to assist cover day-to-day living costs and rent while repaying the 2 separate rental installment plans – that are each tied to their very own travel ban.
Nevertheless, Kerry adds that GoFundMe just isn’t an authorised platform in Dubai – and using it could also result in legal consequences.
‘I’ll find yourself with one other judgment against me, one other prison sentence, only for my family helping me out with GoFundMe,’ Kerry says.
Before all of this, she began writing a book about constructing her business – but she now desires to base it on her detention story.
She concluded: ‘People must know the story of a businesswoman by herself, attempting to construct somewhere where actually the law may be very dangerous and folks don’t forgive you.’
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