Professional Indian conman at large in Bahrain

Manama: The authorities have issued an arrest warrant for an absconding professional conman who has cheated many companies in Bahrain by providing dud cheques.

The man, who is at large, has cheated more than nine companies in the Kingdom including a leading foodstuff import/export company.

A travel ban has been slapped on the man who hails from the Indian city of Hyderabad. According to the LMRA website, his visa is also not valid.

His modus operandi is as follows: He would buy foodstuff from companies and pay the amount in cash initially. In a few days, he gets acquainted with the salesman and wins his trust. Then he starts asking for a grace period to pay the price of his purchase. Later he gives post-dated cheques of two local Bahraini signatories, which end up being duds. Once the outstanding amount reaches above BD1,000, he ditches the suppliers and vanishes, switching off his mobile numbers and changing to a new number.

DT News tried to contact the conman, but three of his mobile phones are not in service. The salesmen, who were cheated by him, also tried to contact him, but in vain.

He sold the foodstuff to cold stores, small restaurants and cafes at a cost lower than what is charged by the distributors and pocketed the full amount through the 100 per cent profit he made.

As many as 38 post-dated cheques bounced during transactions made in one to three months.

For the leading foodstuff import/export firm in Bahrain he gave dozens of cheques, but all of them bounced. The reasons stated by the banks included:

1) Bank account closed

2) No balance in account

3) Refer to the drawer

“Police must arrest him as there is an arrest warrant with them, which is being renewed by the company every year. Unfortunately, the conman is still at large. We must get justice and the money we lost,” said the CEO of the foodstuff company.

“The culprit must go to prison; otherwise he will cheat more people. If he goes behind the bars, several companies will be saved from his cheating tactics. That’s why I request the concerned authorities to intervene in this case and bring the culprit to justice,” he added.

Two Bahrainis, who issued these cheques without any balance in their accounts, have also been accused in the case.

When the cheques bounced, the Indian conman had made an agreement with the leading foodstuff firm, stating that he owed them a said amount of money. He even made an Official Debt Declaration agreement before the public notary that he would pay the amount through instalments starting July 2013 and finish the payment by October 2013. But only a small fraction of the amount was recovered from him.

The Indian Embassy has also been informed about this conman. The arrest warrant, which is still in force since first being issued in 2013, is issued by the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Execution Directorate, without any success.