A MARRIED expatriate couple living in Bahrain have been accused of using forged US dollars to purchase items worth $1,100 in a hypermarket in Bahrain.
The German man and Belarusian woman have been charged with forgery and being part of a counterfeiting gang, along with two other men, Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals.
They allegedly used the forged currency at several branches of a major hypermarket in the country in August and September last year, according to case files.
Two of the defendants, Bangladeshi and German men, appeared in the High Criminal Court for the first time to plead not guilty to the charges, while the others refused to be brought to court from police custody.
The Bangladeshi man denied any involvement in the counterfeiting gang and instead accused his co-defendant of accepting the fake currency from their Pakistani accomplice.
“I saw (the German man) take the money from the Pakistani man,” the 57-year-old said in court.
“I have nothing to do with this at all but I only saw the German man taking the money. He claims he did not do anything but it’s not true.
“However, I have nothing to do with them.”
This caused a heated argument between the two men, who stood behind a glass partition inside the courtroom, prompting the lead judge to order policemen to escort them out of the courtroom.
“I am from Germany and will not commit such crimes,” said the German defendant before he was escorted out of the courtroom.
“We are a very advanced country and have strong ethics and I will never implicate myself in such cases.
“I do not know why I am accused of this.”
He previously told prosecutors during questioning that the money was given to him as repayment of a loan by the Bangladeshi man.
However, he said he did not know it was forged when he used the money when shopping with his wife. “I got the $1,100 from my friend (Bangladeshi man) because I had lent him money previously,” he said in his statement to prosecutors.
“I then gave my wife $500 and kept the rest, and she later told me that she was arrested at a supermarket because the money was forged.
“We had no idea that it was forged and the Bangladeshi man did not say that it was fake currency.
“We spent the money on our shopping.”
Meanwhile, a witness for the prosecution, a manager at one of the branches of the hypermarket, took to the stand and identified the German defendant.
“Your honour, this is the man who handed over the $100 counterfeit money,” said the 42-year-old Sudanese national in court.
“I saw him in the video footage taken by the security cameras.
“The security guard alerted us that the bank informed him about fake currency being used at our supermarket branch.
“We then checked the security cameras and saw that a man and a woman were using the forged currency.
“The gang also used the forged currency in our branches in Bahrain Mall, Enma Mall and Gulfmart.”
Screenshots of the security footage showing the German man and his wife at the cashier have been attached to court documents as evidence.
Judges adjourned the trial to February 21 to summon the rest of the prosecution witnesses for cross-examination.
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