Chinese national jailed for ‘using forged credit cards’

The High Criminal Court has sentenced a Chinese national to seven years in prison for using fake credit cards. It’s stated that the convict withdrew large amounts from ATMs in the Kingdom using fake credit cards. He was also fined BD10,000 for committing the crime.

The defendant was reported to the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic by a local bank after detecting he made several attempts to withdraw cash from its ATM device using counterfeit credit cards belong to a Chinese bank. All the cards were automatically swallowed by the ATM, while an investigation was launched into the case. 

According to police reports, the defendant attempted to do the same at a local mall, but he was immediately arrested by detectives who were tracking him. “We took him to his apartment and we searched it in his presence and we found a laptop and a huge number of fake credit cards as well as cash in Bahraini dinars and UAE dirhams,” a detective told prosecutors. 

Meanwhile, the  Chinese man told prosecutors that he was working a driver in the UAE and he was “planning to make some good money before returning home”. “I logged into a chatroom and I talked to someone, who requested me to withdraw money using the fake credit cards and he would give me a commission.

“I agreed and I came to Bahrain after I received the cards and the card reading device. I was arrested after making six attempts,” he explained.  The defendant was charged with fraud and forgery. He stood trial before the High Criminal Court.