A TWO-TIME thief, who was convicted of burglary after sneaking into a sleeping man’s room and stealing his life savings, is appealing against his sentence … in a case that highlights the necessity of making passcodes unique and avoiding factory settings.
Last month, the High Criminal Court sentenced the Bahraini to five years behind bars and fined him BD5,000 and yesterday the appeals process began at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.
According to court documents, the appellant stole a mobile phone and BD750 from a Bangladeshi labourer after sneaking into his room while the man was taking an afternoon nap.
“One afternoon, I was roaming around Halat Bu Maher looking for something to steal, when I saw the door to a building was open,” the court heard the 38-year-old had earlier told the prosecution.
“When I got in, an apartment door was open so I snuck in to see a man asleep on his bed.”
After taking a mobile phone, the burglar reportedly found it easy to unlock the device, simply entering ‘1234’ for the PIN code.
He then went on the BenefitPay app, where he tried ‘123456’ for the PIN and succeeded again, now having full access to the Bangladeshi victim’s life savings.
A series of purchases and sales ensued, beginning with the purchase of a BD55 water filter paid for from the victim’s bank account, which the appellant then sold to a passer-by for BD30.
He then bought a mobile for BD120 and sold it for BD80.
The appellant wired BD500 to his sister, and after exhausting all of the ill-gotten funds, he pawned off the stolen phone for BD15.
The thief used the cash to celebrate by buying alcohol from Mina Salman, the court also heard.
The card owner, who works as a driver at a fashion boutique, recounted the fateful June day to the Public Prosecution.
“One afternoon, I went to nap in my room and left the door open as usual,” he said. “I put my phone on my nightstand and fell asleep.
“I woke up at 4pm only to find my Samsung Galaxy mobile, with my SIM card in it, had disappeared.
“When I went to a foreign exchange company to remit money to my family in Bangladesh an employee said that my account had been completely emptied.”
Meanwhile, the appellant’s sister told prosecutors about receiving BD500 via BenefitPay, then getting a call from her brother that he sent it to her for safekeeping on behalf of a friend.
She added that 10 days later, he asked her not to give up the money to anyone or hand it over to the police until he had decided to ‘forfeit it’.
The shopkeeper of the mobile phone store located in Muharraq also testified to seeing the two-time convict purchase the phone.
Although the appellant admitted to the crime in police and prosecution interviews, he stood before High Criminal Court judges and denied charges of impersonation and theft.
He was eventually found guilty of using deception to swindle money and gaining access to a person’s digital identity without permission.
The Bahraini was previously convicted of theft-related charges, the court was told. His appeal has been adjourned and the defendant will be brought before judges in three weeks’ time for the next hearing on October 15. ‘
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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