Mirror lawyer : Can I sue company for issuing dud cheque?

Dear Mirror Lawyer, I am a trader who imports goods from China and Dubai to sell. A reputable institution came to purchase some of the goods and paid with a cheque. 

My business policy is to accept cash but I was convinced that because it is a known company, the cheque would go through. 

A few hours after the purchase, the institution called pleading with me to hold on to the cheque for three days because it had undertaken a contract for a department and was expecting payment which had delayed.

I waited for the three days and presented the cheque. Surprisingly, upon presenting it at the bank, the cheque was dishonoured. Kindly advise me.

Dear Irene, It is an offence under the laws of Ghana to issue a cheque knowing very well that you do not have sufficient funds in your account to meet the face value of the cheque. 

The reasonable thing to do in such circumstances is to have negotiated to issue a postdated cheque to mature on the date you are sure funds would have been paid into your accounts. 

The punishment for issuing a cheque which is dishonoured upon presentation is a fine or imprisonment. The relevant law is section 313A of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29. 

The section provides that any person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse proof of which shall be on him issues any cheques drawn on any bank with which he has no account; or

(b) issues any cheque in respect of any account with any bank when he has no reasonable ground (proof of which shall be on him) to believe that there are funds or adequate funds in the account to pay the amount specified on the cheque within the normal course of banking business; or

(c) with intent to defraud stops or countermands any cheque previously issued by him, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on first offence to a fine not exceeding 250 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment; not exceeding 12 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment, and in the case of a subsequent criminal offence to a fine not exceeding 1,000 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years.

In the case of COMMISSIONER OF POLICE v. DANQUAH [1962] 2 GLR 144 the appellant, who had no money in the bank, asked the complainant to cash a cheque for him and told the complainant that he could collect the money from the bank on May 22, 1961, the date on the cheque. On presentation the cheque was dishonoured. 

The appellant was convicted of the offence of defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131 of the Criminal Code, 1960. He appealed. 

It was held that the conviction was good. When the cheque was drawn for an amount to be paid on a certain date, there was a representation that it would be met on that date, either because there was money in the bank to honour it or because arrangements had been made for the necessary funds for the bank to pay the amount for which the cheque was drawn. 

The evidence proved conclusively that the pretence made by the appellant was false to his knowledge. He had obtained goods, not credit, by false pretences.  

Apart from criminal sanctions, a person who presents a cheque which is dishonoured on account of lack of funds or stoppage can sue the issuer of the cheque in a civil court to claim the face value of the cheque and any loss suffered by him as a result of the dishonour.

 In such civil suits, you do not have to go into the merits of the contract which resulted in the issue of the cheque. 

All that the law requires of you is to sue on the face value of the cheque; that you were issued that cheque and on presentation it was dishonoured so the issuer must make good the face value of the cheque.