High Court Sentences Sorcerer to Five Years for Money Laundering

TDT | Manama

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The High Criminal Court has sentenced a 30-year-old man to five years imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Bahraini dinars for money laundering.  The court also ordered the confiscation of 96,000 Bahraini dinars, along with an additional 41,000 Bahraini dinars in assets deemed proceeds of crime, and the seizure of two vehicles linked to the original offenses.  The civil case has been referred to the competent court.

The defendant, who was already serving a three-year sentence and a 5,000 Bahraini dinars fine for fraud, was found guilty of laundering money obtained through sorcery and fraud.  He refused to appear before the court despite being notified while in prison.

The original charges stem from a case where the defendant, posing as a cleric who could perform healing through the Quran, defrauded a Bahraini couple. He conned them out of their wife's jewelry, two cars, a piece of land, and cash totaling over 100,000 Bahraini dinars.

During previous hearings, the defendant’s absence was noted, while the victim's lawyer, Zahra Ali, attended, demanding the seizure of the defendant’s assets for her clients.  She emphasised Article 3 of the Money Laundering Law, which protects the rights of good-faith third parties from asset confiscation.

The Public Prosecution argued that the money in the defendant's account was the proceeds from the sale of the victim's land, and that the funds were illicitly obtained.  

The prosecution presented evidence showing that the defendant sold the land obtained through fraud for 96,000 Bahraini dinars and transferred ownership of one of the stolen cars to his brother.  Furthermore, the prosecution demonstrated that the defendant possessed another car and 41,700.411 Bahraini dinars, all proceeds from the original crimes.

A financial investigations officer from the Ministry of Interior testified that an investigation, aided by confidential sources and review of the original case, revealed the fraudulent acquisition of the land.  Despite claiming to have paid the victim 83,000 Bahraini dinars for the land, this sum was not found in the defendant's bank accounts.  

The investigation further revealed that the defendant had transferred the land to two individuals who paid him 65,000 Bahraini dinars in checks.  The investigation also confirmed the defendant's ownership of four vehicles, two of which were originally owned by the victims.

The victim testified that the defendant practiced sorcery and fraud, providing him with charmed honey and water which worsened his mental and physical condition, rendering him incapable of rational decision-making.  

The defendant then convinced the victim that his land was cursed and needed to be transferred to his name to break the curse.  The victim was also forced to pay over 19,000 Bahraini dinars for supposed treatments, along with two cars and 7,000 Bahraini dinars worth of his wife's jewelry.

The court's decision highlights the severity with which Bahrain addresses financial crimes linked to other offenses.