Two Asian Men Face Charges for Electronic Signature Fraud in Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

The High Criminal Court commenced the trial of two Asian men accused of electronic signature fraud, forgery of a private document, and unauthorised access to an information technology system. The first defendant, a 46-year-old manager, is in custody, while the second defendant, a 42-year-old businessman, is currently at large. The court has scheduled August 4th for the defendants to review the case and respond to the charges.

The case stems from a complaint filed by a financial company alleging fraudulent activities conducted through the electronic payment gateway of a commercial establishment. The company detected 14 suspicious transactions involving foreign bank cards belonging to individuals outside of Bahrain, without their consent. The perpetrators used the establishment's website to process the funds into the establishment's bank account.

Investigations revealed that the defendants were involved in the scheme. They had rented the commercial registration from the owner of the commercial company, created a website for the establishment, and entered stolen bank card details to transfer funds into their personal bank account.

A witness from a financial services company testified that the company provides various electronic services, including electronic payment services for commercial establishments. The service was provided to the establishment in question on June 12, 2022. Upon reviewing the transactions on the establishment's website, 14 suspicious transactions totaling 16,000 Bahraini dinars were identified, using foreign bank cards. The witness stated that the company suffered damages as a result of the fraudulent transactions, as the cardholders contested the transactions and the company was forced to reimburse the funds.

The Public Prosecution has charged the defendants with conspiring and assisting an unknown individual in using the electronic signature of another, specifically the verification code of a bank card issued in the United States and another card issued in Canada, for fraudulent purposes. Moreover, conspiring and assisting an unknown individual in unlawfully obtaining funds belonging to a financial company through fraudulent means, by intentionally acquiring bank details and entering them into the information technology system. Additionally, conspiring and assisting an unknown individual in unlawfully accessing the information technology system and bank accounts of others for the purpose of transferring funds.

The Public Prosecution has also charged the first defendant with forging a private document, specifically the contract between the financial company and the commercial company, by placing a forged signature attributed to the owner of the commercial company with the intent to use it. The defendant is further accused of using the forged document to obtain electronic services from the financial company, knowing that it was forged.