Fraudster used stolen cards for taxes and crypto

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A man convicted of using stolen bank cards to buy digital currencies and settle a company’s tax bill is appealing his five-year prison sentence, BD5,000 fine, and permanent deportation.

The High Criminal Court of Appeal will rule on the matter on 24 March.

The 34-year-old Asian defendant was found guilty of exploiting another person’s card in Bahrain to withdraw BD300 and purchase digital assets.

He also used stolen bank cards from an Asian country to pay nearly BD50,000 in tax dues for a contracting company.

Prosecutors charged him with working alongside unidentified accomplices to unlawfully use another person’s electronic signature and seize funds.

Access

Investigators allege he gained access to the money by interfering with an information technology system.

A fraud specialist from an international card company told the court that suspicious transactions were flagged involving bank cards issued in an Asian country.

These cards were used via the eGovernment portal to pay tax bills to the National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) on behalf of a contracting firm.

When the issuing banks were contacted, they confirmed the payments were fraudulent and had been challenged by the cardholders.

Inquiries

A police officer testified that inquiries revealed the accused was aware the cards had been stolen but refused to assist in identifying other individuals involved.

An accountant at the National Bureau for Revenue stated that a company had paid BD21,056.942 in taxes through 33 online transactions.