Man who took cash for work permit gets suspended sentence

TDT | Manama

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A man convicted of taking money for arranging a work permit will not serve time after a court ruled to suspend his sentence for three years.

The resident had been charged with accepting payments to secure a work permit for a foreign worker.

The Public Prosecution sought his punishment under labour market laws, arguing that he had breached regulations governing work permits.

Lawyer Salah Al Jaber said his client was accused of receiving money in 2024 from the complainant in exchange for handling the permit process.

Sentence

Prosecutors charged him under Articles (23/d) and (36/a,d) of Law No. 19 of 2006 on Labour Market Regulation, as amended by Law No. 40 of 2014. A criminal order was issued, imposing a BD1,000 fine and ordering his permanent deportation after serving the sentence.

The defendant objected to the ruling, and the matter was taken to court. He denied wrongdoing, while his lawyer argued that the charges lacked firm grounds and that no offence had been committed.

Visa sponsorship

The complainant told the court he had agreed with the defendant to arrange the transfer of his visa sponsorship to a different company.

He sent the agreed sum through the BenefitPay app but later decided not to go ahead with the transfer.

The defendant initially agreed to return the money but did not follow through. After reviewing the case, the court ruled that the man had committed the offence.

However, the complainant later withdrew the case, and the court considered that the defendant was unlikely to repeat the offence.