A BAHRAINI government employee, who allegedly forged an inspection report on a hotel in Manama, stood trial yesterday, after a secondary check reportedly showed the discrepancies in his findings.
The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) employee, whose age was not disclosed, reportedly committed electronic fraud after forging a report, giving the property what the authorities suggest was an undeserved four-star review.
“We visited the hotel premises in order to conduct a secondary investigation into its star rating,” said a BTEA official giving evidence during the hearing yesterday. “We inspected the rooms, the air conditioning, the food, cleanliness, the pool and what we found was that the hotel did not live up to national four-star standards.
“In order for a hotel to get four-stars, it needed to score 240 points during inspection procedures. I can confidently say that the hotel fell well short of the required amount of points to be considered as offering four-star accommodation.”
The witness also stated that there were other discrepancies such as the size of the pool, which he said was smaller than what the initial report conducted by the accused stated.
Inspections
“The pool was listed as being 60 square metres in size, when in reality it measured about 30sqm at most.”
The initial inspection took place in December when the BTEA employee allegedly forged official documents and an inspection report and entered them into the authority’s electronic system.
After discrepancies and conflicting information were uncovered in the data, the Financial Investigation Directorate was alerted and an investigation launched.
Testimonies were collected from witnesses, including the owner of the hotel, and the accused was confronted with the evidence.
The accused has denied all charges.
Yesterday’s trial was adjourned to the end of the month, with the exact date to be determined, as the accused’s lawyer is leaving Bahrain on a holiday until January 27.
According to the Bahrain Penal Code 1976, a punishment of imprisonment for a period of no more than two years and a fine not exceeding BD200, or both, can be the result for anyone found guilty of publishing untrue reports or produces falsified or forged documents.
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