Fake ‘Quranic healer’ jailed for land and money scam

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A self-styled charlatan who claimed he could lift curses with “blessed” honey and water has been jailed for five years after persuading a Bahraini couple to hand over their land, cars, cash and gold.

The man, in his thirties, posed as a Quranic healer. He convinced his victims their property was bewitched and had to be transferred to his name to break the spell.

Spiritual treatment

He also demanded BD19,000 for supposed spiritual treatment, took gold jewellery worth BD7,000 from the wife, and drove off with two vehicles.

Lawyer Zahraa Fardan, representing the victims, said she filed the laundering case precisely because the land had been sold and the money disappeared.

“He took the land, sold it, and the money vanished,” she said. “The car in his name was actually paid for by my client.”

Fardan said Public Prosecution accepted the conviction but objected to the seizure of the BD41,700 and the vehicles, arguing they belonged to the victims and should not be taken.

The court agreed and cancelled the confiscation.

The Appeals Court upheld his conviction for laundering the money he gained through fraud, and fined him BD50,000.

Ruling

However, judges cancelled an earlier ruling that had ordered the confiscation of BD41,700.411 and the two cars, deciding instead that they rightfully belonged to the victims.

A separate civil case has been referred to determine compensation.

As reported by The Daily Tribune last November, the case first came to light last year when the victims described how they were duped into believing their land was cursed and could only be “cleansed” by handing it over.