Bahrain resident 'conned' by cargo company

Manama :  A Bahrain resident has apparently been conned by a Sharjah cargo company, while relocating from Dubai in March. Three months earlier Malik Ali, 34, paid the company to move his belongings to his new address in Bahrain. However he is still waiting for his things to arrive.

After several failed attempts to recover his assets, Ali, says he is now convinced he has been conned. “We have given up hopes of ever seeing our favourite things again," he said.

"There were so many of them in the cargo, including my kid’s toys, his special-themed furniture and personal memorabilia I collected over the years while working in several locations around the world. Then there were my academic certificates and degrees. You can’t put a price tag to all that."

The father of one who paid Sharjah’s Tareeq Al Khan Marine Cargo Dh6,400 (BD640) to ship his goods in two batches – one to Bahrain and another to his hometown in Pakistan.

“I was promised that I would get all my household items in Bahrain in three days. It’s three months now and we are yet to receive anything. They said the Pakistan-bound cargo would reach Lahore in 30 days,” he added.

"We went to Bahrain with just one suitcase as we thought our cargoes were on the way. The furniture and appliances alone were worth almost Dh30,000 (BD3000),” said Ali who has worked as a finance director for hotels in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UK before joining a Dubai group of companies as head of finance last year. 

When days of waiting turned into weeks, Ali, a certified chartered accountant from London, called the cargo company. “The first time around they answered my phone to tell me that my consignment was stuck at the Saudi border and that we would receive it in three days. When I called them next, the phone was switched off. It’s been like that since,” said Ali. When he contacted the Sharjah Economic Development he was told the company had shut down. “It’s a clear case of fraud as these people placed online advertisements quoting lower than usual market prices. Once contacted, they come and pick all the household stuff and leave with their payment in cash,” he added.