MANAMA: Two women have been jailed for forging official travel documents to allow one of them to extend her stay in Bahrain.
The Thai women, aged 41 and 45, were found guilty of forgery by the High Criminal Court yesterday.
The 41-year-old masseuse arrived in Bahrain on a tourist visa but ended up staying in the country illegally when her two-week visa expired, according to court documents.
Her co-defendant, along with another person unknown to authorities, then helped her forge an official stamp belonging to Bahrain International Airport, which showed her exiting the country on December 13 and returning on December 15.
However, officials found out that she never left the country since her arrival in May last year.
“The defendants were found guilty of forgery due to sufficient evidence against them,” read the court ruling.
“They used a fake stamp which looked similar to the original official stamp placed by officials at the airport.
“They used the help of another person, who is unknown to authorities.”
Alert
An alert airport official described how he discovered the scam.
“In January 2022, the Thai woman (aged 41) was trying to travel to Thailand from Bahrain,” the 33-year-old told prosecutors.
“She gave me her boarding pass and her passport.
“I then noticed something suspicious in her passport, two fake stamps that looked nearly identical to official ones.
“I then found out that she never left the country and she had been staying in the country illegally.”
The 41-year-old defendant said she thought she was staying in the country legally. “I came to work in Bahrain as a masseuse,” she told prosecutors.
“I was told I would get BD900 monthly, which I needed to treat my sick mother back home.
“However, when my tourist visa expired I met a Thai woman (co-defendant), who said she can help me extend my stay and I paid her BD30 each time.
“I never knew that I was staying in the country illegally and found out when I attempted to travel back home.”
The two women will be deported after completing their sentences.
A third Thai woman was found not guilty of the charges due to lack of evidence.
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