Bahraini court confirms jail terms of two Arab frauds

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Cassation Court has upheld the sentences issued against two Arab nationals who were convicted of fraud. They were sentenced to three years each, as they were buying and selling mobile phones using credit cards issued outside Bahrain which were obtained with the help of a Bahraini fugitive.

The Court of First Instance sentenced the fugitive to seven years in prison along with a hefty fine of BD20,000 after he was convicted of money laundering and electronic fraud. Meanwhile, the Court punished the second and third defendants with three years in prison and fined each of them BD10,000 on charges of money laundering and fraud.

The Court also ordered the seizure of a combined total of BD57,000 from the defendants’ wealth, while they were ordered to be deported after serving their punishments. All the sentences against the defendants have been confirmed by the Appeals Court as well as the Cassation Court.

The General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic & Electronic Security had received a report from an electronic sales company that discovered fraudulent operations within visa cards issued by an American bank. The duo were using the cards to purchase items online. It was found that the total amount of transactions completed reached BD8,000.

The defendants were caught in a sting operation while receiving items that they purchased online and were initially withheld. After the arrest of the accused men, the third defendant denied participation in criminal activity and stated that he had met with the Bahraini fugitive who offered him a job in trading phones, and he would get BD10 as commission for each phone sold.

He also added that purchases were made outside of Bahrain without his knowledge through the first accused and were unaware of the source of income. The second defendant added that he was invited to join by the third defendant, and he was unaware of the process of purchasing the phones.