Man jailed for using brother’s ID to flee Bahrain

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A man who fled Bahrain nearly a decade ago using his brother’s identity was sentenced to a year in prison after being caught upon his return.

The High Criminal Court found him guilty of assuming his brother’s identity, using his ID card to pass through border checks, and leaving the country while wanted by security services.

The case dates back to 2015, when the man, now in his thirties, was summoned by the authorities. Rather than face arrest, he chose to escape.

Knowledge

He took his older brother’s ID from their home without his knowledge, travelled to the King Fahd Causeway, and handed it to a customs officer as though it were his own.

The deception worked. He crossed the border and disappeared. For years, he remained abroad. He found work, settled in, and carried on as though nothing had happened.

Then, at the end of 2024, he decided to return. This time, he used his own passport and valid ID.

As soon as he arrived at the causeway, border officers stopped him. He was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Directorate.

Records showed he had left Bahrain on his own passport in 2012 and returned the next day.

Suspicions

After that, there was no trace of him — until now. The gap in travel history raised suspicions, leading to the discovery of how he had slipped away unnoticed years earlier.

Questioned by prosecutors, he admitted what he had done. He said fear of being caught had driven him to flee.

The Public Prosecution charged him with working with a public employee, who had no knowledge of the deception, to enter false details into a government database.

This was done at the King Fahd Causeway’s border records, under the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA). By submitting his brother’s ID, he made the system register a false entry.

He was also charged with misusing another person’s identity card, which had allowed him to cross into Saudi Arabia unlawfully.