Court adjourns case of man accused of forging dental licence

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Criminal Court has adjourned the case of an Asian man accused of forging a university degree to obtain a dental licence until 15th July. The court postponed the hearing to allow the defendant to appoint a lawyer.

The Public Prosecution has charged the 51-year-old defendant with manipulating the Ministry of Health's registration and licensing office's information system between 2005 and 2022.

He allegedly altered a renewal form to falsely claim he was a qualified dental technician, despite possessing a forged licence.

The case came to light when the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) received an email from a person of the same nationality as the defendant, alleging that the defendant's degree was fake.

The NHRA then hired a company to verify the authenticity of the degree, which confirmed it was indeed forged.

The investigation revealed that the defendant submitted forged documents to the NHRA in 2006, based on which he was granted a dental licence in 2007.

He continued to renew the licence until 13th May 2022, when the forgery was discovered.

During the investigation, the defendant confessed to the charges and admitted that he had obtained the forged degree from a friend in his home country in 2004-2005.

He claimed that he needed a university degree to obtain a dental licence and that he filled out a form with false information, claiming to have a diploma in dental technology from a university.

He attached a copy of the forged document to the application, which led to the issuance of the dental licence.

The Public Prosecution has confirmed that both the degree and the transcript submitted to the Ministry of Health were forged, leading to the issuance of the defendant's dental licence.