A woman who allegedly pretended to be a lawyer and falsified court records to scam individuals seeking legal services is standing trial at the High Criminal Court.
The 30-year-old Jordanian has been charged with creating and using a forged official document and retaining cash amounts which were entrusted to her by others.
According to court documents, the defendant worked as an aide at a legal firm but allegedly claimed to be an attorney, using the firm’s name to scam people.
Authorities caught the scent of her alleged endeavours after receiving a complaint from the manager of a document clearance office, who had come to the defendant for help with a legal issue.
“I administer a company specialised in issuing tourists’ visas,” the Pakistani businessman earlier testified. “Some of my employees had issues with their residency permits, and I was seeking assistance in the matter.
“A friend of mine gave me the defendant’s number, stating that she was able to solve all sorts of issues and would resolve my company’s problem. She introduced herself to me as a lawyer.”
The man stated that he paid the defendant BD110 for her services, part by wire transfer and part by cash.
“After a while, she told me that the issue has been resolved and sent me a payment receipt from the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry. However, I found out that the receipt was fake and confronted her about it. She told me that she wasn’t actually a lawyer and that she simply worked at a law firm.”
An official from the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA), who leads the directorate responsible for designing and developing eServices and government channels, also testified in the case.
After examining the allegedly-falsified receipt, the Bahraini stated that the serial number on the record belonged to a real transaction but that the data on the document has been altered.
The Public Prosecution charged the Jordanian woman with falsifying an official, digital record and claiming that it was issued by the ministry, with the intention of using the record to ‘obscure the truth’.
She was further charged with using the falsified record while knowing that it is not legitimate.
Prosecutors also charged her with keeping an amount of money entrusted to the client for herself and harming this person in the process.
A glance at the defendant’s criminal record revealed a history of convictions, the court heard.
In February 2023, she was convicted of exploiting the same legal firm’s name to defraud potential customers and was sentenced to a year in prison, a ruling that was upheld upon appeal.
Before that, she was sentenced to six months in jail for concealing funds and fraud.
Judges will issue a verdict in the case on September 16.
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