A BAHRAINI civil servant allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for lifting immigration bans, which were imposed on expats who had been deported from the country.
The 25-year-old is accused of overturning such court orders for 11 expats, who were deported from Bahrain after being convicted of prostitution or living in the country illegally.
He is said to have been paid BD8,800 for illegally lifting the immigration orders, by altering information on the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) database.
Prosecutors argue that the NPRA employee unlawfully doctored government records using a colleague’s computer password, without his colleague’s knowledge.
He was arrested after a Saudi man allegedly paid BD800 to delete a court order, which prevented a Russian woman returning to Bahrain.
The defendant has been charged with accepting bribes, forging official documents and accessing a government database without permission.
However, he pleaded not guilty when he appeared in the High Criminal Court yesterday.
Three other Bahraini men arrested in connection with the alleged racket include a document clearing agent, 27, a debt collector, 32, and an NPRA officer, also 32.
The debt collector and the clearing agent both denied aiding and abetting the crime when they appeared in court yesterday.
However, the NPRA officer told judges the allegations were true.
He said he personally received BD300 from the deal to lift the Russian woman’s immigration ban – and admitted to encouraging the crime.
In his statement to prosecutors, the NPRA officer also revealed that he introduced potential clients to the 25-year-old defendant.
“I told the Saudi man about the process involved in lifting an immigration ban, but he said it was too long and he had no idea about the regulations,” he said in his statement.
“I then introduced him to my 25-year-old colleague.
“The 25-year-old, who is also my friend, would always say that if we ever face complicated cases, we should refer them to him – and he’ll take care of the case in exchange for money.”
He said the debt collector originally brought the Russian woman’s case to him on behalf of the Saudi client.
However, he added the Saudi had no idea that bribery was involved – believing he was paying a legitimate fee for amending the Russian woman’s status on official records.
“When the 25-year-old received the money from the debt collector, he gave me BD300,” said the NPRA officer.
“I hesitated to take it at first because I didn’t want to feed my children with illegally obtained money, so we agreed it was payment towards BD450 that he owes me.
“The money was paid by the Saudi, but I don’t think he was aware it was for a bribe and just thought it was a fee to speed up the process.”
Immigration records were illegally altered 11 times in this way between May 3 and June 25 this year.
The police officer who led the investigation said an informant alerted authorities to the racket.
“I conducted an investigation and confirmed the names and nationalities of the expatriates who were previously deported and banned from returning,” he said in his statement.
“They had their immigration bans lifted without corroborating documents or circumstances.
“We found out the operation was conducted through just one computer and when we called in an NHRA employee, he revealed to previously giving his password to the 25-year-old.
“When the 25-year-old was called for investigation, he admitted to me in detail about taking BD500 to BD800 per operation – and that he would collect the money in collaboration with his 32-year-old colleague and the debt collector.
Password
“He (the 25-year-old) admitted to using his colleague’s password to lift immigration bans for those convicted of prostitution and violating residency laws.”
The trial was yesterday adjourned until September 23.
All four men accused of involvement have been remanded in police custody.
reem@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))