Man gets six months for stealing BD24,000 from ailing aunts

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

In a shocking betrayal, a man entrusted with his ailing aunts' finances has been sentenced to six months in prison for stealing thousands of dinars from their accounts.

The court also ordered him to pay BD450 as temporary compensation to his aunts, who suffer from poor health.

The case came to light when one of the aunts attempted to withdraw money from her bank, only to discover her account was empty.

Upon further investigation, it was revealed that BD24,000 was missing from the accounts of both women.

Their brother, acting on their behalf, filed the case against the man in his twenties.

Despite pleading not guilty and claiming he was merely managing their finances at their request, evidence showed the man transferred funds through online transactions using the Benefit application.

The incident began in 2020 when the man took one of his aunts to the bank to sign documents, the purpose of which she did not fully understand at the time.

The fraud was uncovered in February 2023 when one of the aunts attempted to withdraw money and discovered the missing funds.

Confronted by his second aunt, the defendant apologized and begged not to file a complaint for the sake of his future.

Nevertheless, the bank filed a complaint after the defendant failed to return the money as promised.

Further investigations revealed that the defendant had been transferring money from his aunts' accounts using the Benefit app without their consent.

One of the aunts, aged 61 and retired, testified to discovering the missing funds and finding only 4,000 dinars remaining from the total 20,000 dinars in her account.

The defendant claimed he would sell his car to repay the money, a promise he did not fulfill.

A bank official testified that the withdrawals were made to the defendant's account using the Benefit app, leading to the freezing of his account.

The defendant initially claimed the transfers were made with his aunts' consent.

However, further investigation by the Fraud Prevention Department revealed that new users were registered on the Benefit app each month using the victim’s phone number, confirming the fraudulent activity.

This betrayal has left the women devastated, highlighting the importance of vigilance and trust in managing finances, especially for those in vulnerable health conditions.