A WELL-KNOWN Bahraini doctor has been jailed for seven years for making large amounts of money by running an illegal racket selling on the black market pills used to treat epilepsy, neuropathic pain and anxiety disorder.
The 55-year-old was among seven people standing trial at the High Criminal Court.
The consultant neurologist is said to have forged prescriptions for Lyrica pills while his accomplices sold the drugs on the streets at inflated prices.
The defendants denied charges of dealing in prescription pills.
Two Bahraini defendants have been jailed for five years each while an Indian man was jailed for 12 months for aiding and abetting.
Two of the co-defendants, both Egyptian nationals, who worked at the doctor’s pharmacy, have been found guilty of helping the Bahraini doctor sell the drugs.
One of them was jailed for three years and the other for 12 months.
Another person was acquitted due to lack of evidence against him.
The non-Bahraini defendants will be deported after completing their sentences.
“The doctor (55-year-old defendant) and his co-defendants illegally sold thousands of Lyrica pills on the black market and made a lot of money,” read the court ruling.
“He wrote prescriptions for people not in Bahrain and with the help of his co-defendants sold it on the black market.
“The defendants were found guilty due to sufficient evidence against them.”
Defence lawyer Nabeel Al Musafer, representing the Bahraini defendants, previously said the defendants’ lives were at risk due to the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in prisons.
A Public Prosecution representative earlier presented his final arguments in court, saying the doctor’s greed led him to commit the crime.
An investigating officer who previously testified in court said the 55-year-old consultant ordered his co-defendants to bring him CPRs to help him forge the prescriptions.
The doctor denied he headed the racket and said he dealt with one of the Bahraini defendants, 50, only as a patient.
But the investigating officer previously testified that the doctor used the 50-year-old to sell the pills.
Another man, a BDF personnel, is standing trial separately in a military court in connection with the case.
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