Duo in the dock for using counterfeit bank notes

TDT | Manama

The Fourth High Criminal Court recently sentenced a duo to five years’ imprisonment and fined them BD1,000 each for forging banknotes and using them in several commercial shops around Bahrain. The Court also ordered both defendants permanent deportation after they serve their jail terms.

Court files showed that the duo (a Gulf man and an Arab woman) counterfeited several SR500 notes and used them to purchase goods from different shops, and receive the change in genuine Bahraini Dinars.

The case was reported to the police on July 24 last year by their first victim, who informed that the duo cheated him after the female defendant purchased a juicer worth BD8 from the shop he worked at using a fake SR500 bill.

The shopkeeper said that he had returned the remaining amount in Bahraini Dinars as per the request of the woman, who he claimed had also asked to change more Saudi banknotes.

The victim added that he discovered the notes were forged at a nearby money exchange, and he quickly returned to his shop where he saw the duo were still walking around. He further told investigators that he was physically assaulted and yelled at by the duo when he confronted them, adding that they walked away from the spot after beating him.

Further investigations revealed that more complaints were lodged against the duo for similar accusations. A second victim informed the police that the female defendant had purchased a BD8 phone cover from his shop, used a counterfeited note to pay, and collected the remaining change in genuine Bahraini Dinars.

A third victim also reported the same to the police. CCTV footage and the confiscated banknotes proved the duo’s involvement in the crime. In the interrogation, the female defendant confessed that her male partner had handed over the counterfeited banknotes to her.