A university student is on trial for allegedly stealing money from his aunts, including their pensions, after they entrusted him with full power of attorney to help them with paperwork due to their poor health.
The 20-year-old Bahraini man stands accused of transferring a total of BD24,300 from his aunts’ bank accounts to his own, although it is not known what he used the money for.
At the High Criminal Court, he denied charges of digital fraud and manipulating data for malicious ends, allegedly taking advantage of the fact that the aunts were not very proficient in using technology.
The alleged fraud was discovered three years after he was granted power of attorney, when the sisters went to the bank together to withdraw funds, only to find out that the accounts were nearly empty.
According to the elderly Bahraini women and their brother, the uncle, the defendant promised to return the money in full but kept delaying, which eventually led him to face a criminal trial.
“My sisters gave full authorisation to our nephew so he would take care of their financial affairs due to their health condition,” the uncle, who lives in Tubli, told prosecutors.
“After they discovered that he drained their bank accounts, the defendant begged my sisters not to report him to authorities.
“However, the bank itself reported him, and he promised he would return the stolen cash to them, but didn’t,” the 47-year-old Bahraini businessman claimed.
Officials from the popular Bahraini bank also testified in Public Prosecution hearings about the case, stating that the transfers from the aunts’ accounts to his were carried out through BenefitPay.
An employee of the bank stated that the suspected theft was reported to the establishment’s anti-fraud department, who carried out an investigation into the matter.
The anti-fraud department reportedly discovered that the defendant registered as a new user on BenefitPay each month, using his elder aunt’s phone number, and each month transfered her pension to his account.
From 2020 to 2023, he took allegedly took BD12,725 from the elder aunt and BD11,577 from the younger one.
The young man’s lawyers requested judges to let him out on bail as he is currently a full-time student at Bahrain University, majoring in accounting and marketing.
Transcripts provided by the defence team show that he only has one year left before graduating and receiving his bachelor’s degree.
The hearing was adjourned to April 8 for defence arguments.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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