Bahraini dupes Japanese firm into sending him 800 cars for free

Manama : A Bahraini man is on trial for tricking a Japanese firm into shipping him 800 luxury cars without paying for them.

The 28-year-old, who previously worked as a salesman in a used-car showroom, told the company he would pay for the cars after receiving them and persuaded it not to export to anyone else in Bahrain.

Local media reported that the man did not have the required documentation to import a large number of vehicles or to sell them to official car distributors.

His actions were discovered when customs officials were notified of a shipment arriving without proper authorisation and an investigation was launched by the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Corruption, Economic and Electronic Security Directorate.

The man, who used a database of automotive companies from his previous job, also tricked several showrooms in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia into handing him advanced payments for the cars before their arrival to the country.

He had promised them lower prices than the market value.

“Over a period of time, thanks to his sharp thinking, he started dabbling in the luxury car market, taking advantage of the craze among the people to possess them. Such was his power of convincing others that he would get people to pay him large amounts of money on promises of importing luxury cars for their use,” First Lieutenant Mohammed Al Abdullah told Al Amn magazine.

He said the suspect had sold the same car to several people in some cases.

The Bahraini was arrested after several complaints were filed. He confessed to the crime during questioning and has been referred to the public prosecutor.