Five years, BD5,000 fine for selling expired goods

TDT | Manama

The second lower criminal court awarded jail terms of five years each to two men on charges of selling food products after changing their expiry dates in the Kingdom. Attorney-General Counsellor Hussain Al-Bu’Ali, the head of the prosecution of ministries and public bodies, said the first and second defendants received jails terms of 5 years each and fine of 5,000 dinars.

A third accused received a three-year jail term and a fine of 2,000 dinars, while a fourth accused received a fine of 5,000 dinars. The court also ordered to expel them from the Kingdom after the completion of their prison terms.

Besides, the court ordered to remove and destroy the seized commodities from the godown and publish the ruling at the convicts’ expense. Court files say the suspects tampered with the validity of food products and sold them again in the local market endangering people lives and health.

Incidents leading to the case occurred, when officials, acting on a tip-off, conducted a raid in a store in the Hamala region. Several food products, ready for redistribution, with changed expiry dates, were seized during the operation conducted by the Public Health Department at the Ministry of Health in coordination with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Two of the suspects were also arrested along with chemicals to erase packaging information and tools used to reprint a new date to sell them. Another suspect, who managed to escape from the spot got arrested later.

Hussain Al-Bu’Ali said the Public Prosecution opened an investigation into the incident as soon as it was informed about it. During interrogation, the suspects denied any involvement in the charges levelled against them.

However, following a thorough investigation, police seized the tools, machines and expired food products along with the store. The Public Prosecution said it’s determined to take all legal deterrent measures to address all forms of fraud and manipulation that may compromise the safety and integrity of society.

Tribune earlier reported that the authorities have seized 80,000 expired food commodities from a warehouse in Hamala in February during a raid. The goods were kept ready for redistribution to the local markets after changing expiry dates.

Abdulaziz Al Ashraf, the assistant undersecretary of Control and Resources in the Industry of Commerce and Tourism Ministry, at that time, gave the estimated size of the store as 750 meters. He also confirmed seizing expired items belonging to 80 different brands.

The store was found jampacked with cartons of rice, lentils, chickpeas, ground spices, pepper, turmeric, pickles, bottles of ketchup, grape leaves, corn, coconut powered and many other products with tampered expiry dates.

The store was in the ownership of one of the suspects involved in the case. According to a statement issued by the Public Prosecution back then, the crime is punishable with imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to BD5,000.