Bahrain bank employee on trial for embezzling over BD500,000 from 19 clients

TDT | Manama                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Bahrain High Criminal Court has commenced the trial of a 32-year-old bank employee accused of embezzling substantial amounts of money from the accounts of 19 bank clients, totalling more than BD500,000.

The defendant is also charged with laundering the illicitly obtained funds. According to the public prosecutor, the accused accessed the bank’s information technology system without legal justification between May 9, 2021, and July 13, 2023. During this period, he exploited his authorised privileges in the electronic system to gain access to the accounts of 19 bank clients.

Additionally, he collaborated with others, acting in good faith, to input false data into the bank’s information technology system, presenting it as accurate information. The investigations revealed that he unlawfully seized movable assets, amounting to BD560,380.100, belonging to the victims, utilising fraudulent methods involving the manipulation of data in the bank’s information technology system.

He also misappropriated BD7,791 from one of the victims, who had entrusted him with the funds. Furthermore, the defendant engaged in forgery by falsifying a specific document, cash withdrawal vouchers, by providing false evidence to represent them as genuine. He knowingly used the forged documents.

Illicitly obtained funds

The accused committed the crime of money laundering by illegitimately concealing the origins of the illicitly obtained funds, which were the subject of the previous charges against him.

During yesterday’s session, the defendant appeared in the dock, and the court read out the charges brought against him by the public prosecution. The defendant admitted to the first, second, and third charges but denied the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh charges.

The defendant stated that he used the embezzled funds from the bank for gambling and betting purposes. The representative of the public prosecution requested the application of the charges.

Lawyer Samaya Sayed Mujahid accompanied the defendant and requested a postponement for the pleading, along with a copy of the lawsuit. Meanwhile, lawyer Yathrib Jameel, who also attended with the defendant, submitted a defence memo and insisted on referring the defendant for a psychiatric evaluation.

In response, the court asked the defendant if he had any prior psychiatric records at a psychiatric hospital, to which he replied in the negative. The defence present at the hearing confirmed that the defendant did not have any records at a psychiatric hospital either.

Lawyer Mohammed Shaban, representing the affected bank, mentioned that a civil claim had been filed by the bank before the defendant’s trial. The required fees were paid, and a balance statement and a memorandum of requests were attached to the public prosecution. He also requested a copy of the lawsuit.

The court decided to review the case in the next session on January 14 to allow the present defence to respond. It granted a copy of the lawsuit to the civil claimant and ordered the continued detention of the defendant.

Trial

It’s worth noting that the Chief Prosecutor of Financial Crimes and Money Laundering earlier announced that the Public Prosecution had ordered the trial of an employee from a bank for embezzling funds from the accounts of the bank’s clients and engaging in money laundering activities.

The investigation was initiated by the Public Prosecution following a complaint filed by the bank with the Anti-Corruption Directorate at the General Directorate for Combating Corruption, Economic Security, and Cybercrime.

The bank discovered that the accused employee had embezzled amounts exceeding BD500,000 by exploiting the privileges granted to him on the bank’s electronic system, allowing unauthorised access to multiple client accounts.