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A well-known businessman, and three of his company’s top officials, have been accused of embezzling more than six million dinars of investors’ money.
More than 350 victims were allegedly defrauded after they invested in the supposedly-trustworthy defendant’s business empire.
The four Bahrainis – the company’s owner, chief executive and two board members – denied charges of fraud, forgery and money laundering at the High Criminal Court yesterday.
The defendants’ attorneys asked judges to ban the media from publishing details of the case, out of concern for the magnate’s reputation, fearing that adverse public opinion could influence its outcome.
The court dismissed the request, despite the pleas of multiple lawyers, who accused the media of ‘sensationalising’ proceedings and stated that ‘it won’t bode well for the suspects’.
Three attorneys, representing the 352 alleged victims, also appeared at court yesterday, requesting court documents so they can pursue civil litigation after the trial ends.
The investment company, implicated in the case, is owned by the main suspect’s highly-successful parent company. All eight branches of the former have been placed under sequester, according to commercial registration (CR) portal Sijilat.
A tip from National Centre For Financial Investigations sparked the investigation, which alleged that the suspects had tricked investors through bogus, falsified business deals.
Suspicious
“The centre had received a financial report indicating that the owner took a number of suspicious actions,” read the Public Prosecution’s statement. “He submitted dud cheques, withdrew funds from the company’s accounts with no apparent justification, and made payments that were not indicated in any written contracts.
“He used the name of several CRs as a pretence, falsely claiming that their owners needed funding to grow their ventures, then presented them as investment opportunities to his targets.
“When the investors agreed to finance the businesses, he swindled the money they put in, using the funds to his own advantage, carrying out transactions to lend them legitimacy.”
According to the Public Prosecution, investigations uncovered that the three other defendants knew of the scheme but did not alert investors, thereby enabling the owner to pocket the money.
A Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) audit stated that the defendant authored and signed the cheques, and addressed them to his name. He used the allegedly-embezzled money to pay off debts and loans, the court heard.
The businessman’s assets were frozen, and the prosecution appointed a manager to administrate his holdings. A travel ban was also placed to forbid him from leaving the country.
Yesterday, a prosecutor demanded that judges penalise the defendants to the greatest extent of the law, stating that their alleged fraud caused harm to the economy.
He described their actions as ‘harmful to the investment landscape of Bahrain’ and claimed that they ‘undermined the security and credibility of the sector’.
“The prosecution will stand against any who attempt to shake the stability of our nation’s economy,” he declared.
The court adjourned the hearing to October 20, giving defence lawyers two weeks to study and respond to more than 8,000 pages of evidence presented by the prosecution.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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