A FORMER member of parliament was sentenced to five years in prison in absentia on charges of arson, threatening the lives of members of the public and attempted insurance fraud.
The High Criminal Court gave its verdict in the case of the Bahraini yesterday for an incident which occurred in May 2019.
The Sanad resident was found to have set fire to private property, specifically a rented building where a gym he owned, was located.
He was also found guilty of using arson in an attempt to swindle an insurance company after taking out a policy to have the commercial establishment valued at BD1.5 million.
“The defendant was suffering significant financial losses in the business and had pending unpaid rent bills as well as electricity and water fees,” an Interior Ministry official told the Public Prosecution.
The court heard that the defendant planned to set the gym on fire so he could claim the insurance money and solve his money woes.
According to court documents, the former MP asked one of his employees, to stockpile bottles of petrol under the guise of using it to power an electric generator.
The 39-year-old Bangladeshi, who is now unemployed, told the Public Prosecution that he had bought the petrol as instructed.
“My former boss told me that he would purchase a generator to power the gym in case there was a power outage,” said the Hoora resident who has been the defendant’s employee since 2016.
“He purchased 10 10-litre bottles of water and instructed me to fill them up with petrol. I went to a petrol station in Isa Town and acquired a total of 90 litres in two days.
“I put them on the roof of the gym as instructed by the boss but there was no generator.”
The employee’s friend also testified to the authorities, as he had accompanied his fellow national on his second trip to the petrol station.
“My friend called me and told me about the petrol bottles,” said the fellow Bangladeshi who lives in Nuwaidrat. “He seemed quite distressed.”
The 38-year-old said two weeks later he received another call from his friend. “He was telling me that his boss was in a terrible mood and intended to burn down his workplace,” said the freelance worker. “I was shocked to later find out that the man went through with it the next day.”
The son of the owner of the building also gave testimony during the trial. “The defendant first rented that building in 2005 in a five-year contract,” said the Bahraini who lives in Isa Town.
“After the lease ended, the defendant refused to vacate the premises and remained there for another nine years.
“In May 2019, a court order to evict the defendant’s commercial establishment was finally issued. Only five days after he was served with the eviction notice, I learned that the building had completely burned down.”
After the Civil Defence were notified, the insurance providers learned about the fire and began their regular insurance claim procedures.
“We contracted an American loss surveying company to investigate the cause of the fire and inspect the building,” said an Indian insurance agent from the Gulf-based insurance firm.
“They were tasked to create a report which would allow us to determine the insurance pay-out.
“When the surveyors attempted to speak with the gym’s employees as part of the investigation, the business owner refused. He also did not inform us about the cause of the fire.”
The 57-year-old Indian then said that because of the defendant’s unco-operative behaviour, the company resorted to leaving the matter to the police to continue its investigation.
A forensics report proved that the fire was deliberate and that traces of petroleum were found.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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