Cambridgeshire Live
·Jul 2026
My new life in Dubai turned into a horror movie when I was thrown in jail over £22,000 unpaid rent
Kerry Nwachukwu says her move from the UK to Dubai in 2022 became a financial and legal crisis after she left a marketing job, claims her former employer withheld salary and expenses, and clients failed to pay invoices to her new agency. She accumulated about £22,000 in rent arrears, lost a case brought by her landlord at Dubai's Rental Disputes Center, and was jailed for several weeks. Although she says her release involved a repayment arrangement, she later received another warrant and was given 15 days to pay roughly £19,000, leaving her under house arrest and fearing indefinite imprisonment. Nwachukwu is seeking donations through GoFundMe and warning prospective expatriates about Dubai's high living costs and the consequences of its legal system, while the article presents her allegations without an opposing account from the authorities or landlord.