Former EWA Employee Accused of Forgery: Lawyer Claims Retaliation

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A former employee of the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) is facing charges of forgery after allegedly using fake disconnection notices to pressure a tenant into paying rent. The defendant, who was convicted in the first instance court and sentenced to one year in prison, is now appealing the verdict.

The defendant's lawyer, Jawad Al Salman, vehemently denied the charges, claiming that his client was wrongfully accused and that the tenant was attempting to retaliate against the defendant for filing a criminal complaint against him for illegal electricity and water connections.

"My client had already obtained a court order to terminate the lease agreement and evict the tenant due to serious violations of the lease," Al Salman explained. "The tenant's actions, including the illegal connections, were a major factor in the termination of the lease."

Al Salman further argued that the tenant had no reason to file a complaint against his client, as the electricity account was registered under the defendant's name. He also emphasised that the defendant worked in the accounts department at EWA and had no involvement in the disconnection notices or the violations department.

"It is illogical for my client to forge a disconnection notice and send it to himself," Al Salman stated. "The tenant's accusation is purely malicious and aimed at harming my client for exposing his illegal activities."

The prosecution alleges that the defendant, while working at EWA, forged two official disconnection notices from the customer services department. The notices were allegedly used to coerce the tenant into paying rent.

The tenant testified that he had rented a property from the defendant and sublet a portion of it. He stated that he had been paying rent regularly but that the defendant began demanding payment more frequently and sent him fake disconnection notices via WhatsApp.

An EWA inspector confirmed that the notices were fraudulent and that the EWA customer services department had not issued any disconnection notices on the dates mentioned in the forged documents. The case is currently under appeal, and the defendant's lawyer is seeking his client's acquittal.