Bahrain court jails man for selling rented cars with forged registration

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahrain court upheld a three-year jail term awarded to a person found guilty of selling cars taken on rent using forged ownership certificates and registration. The latest ruling came from the High Criminal Court of Appeal, which rejected a challenge against the verdict of the First Instance Court.

The Court passed the judgement in a case filed in November 2019 at the Muharraq Governorate, where police charged the suspect with forging registration and insurance documents. Incidents leading to the case occurred with a victim filing a cheating case against the suspect. The victim said he fell into the trap attracted by an advertisement on a social media platform offering a car for sale for BD3,700.

“So, I contacted the advertiser, who told me that he already sold the car but had another, which also is of the same model and specification.” “I then met the seller, inspected the car and decided to go for it.” “I also asked for the ownership papers and car’s registration and insurance.”

“Next day, he sent me the papers on WhatsApp and agreed to meet again to go to the General Directorate of Traffic to legalise the sale. “Based on the discussion, I met the seller again. “However, while checking the documents, I felt something was wrong. “The texture of the documents was abnormal and did not look very original. “So, I logged on to the website of the General Traffic Department to cross-check the registration details. “And, it turned out that the number plate belonged to another person and other documents were also fake.”

“However, I kept my calm and pretended to be convinced with the documents and told him to go to the traffic directorate to complete the sale. But, as soon as we reached the traffic directorate, the seller jumped out of the car and ran away. “Further investigation revealed that the car belonged to a rental company and suspect had taken the car on rent from them.

Police later found that the suspect earlier received a six-month prison term in a similar case. The Public Prosecution charged him with stealing rented vehicles, forging registration and ownership documents of vehicles and cheating people. Police also confiscated the computer and a printer used by the suspect for creating forged documents.