A convicted serial conman and his legal adviser, accused of filing lawsuits against 12 people without their knowledge, will receive their verdict next month.
The duo allegedly entered their own contact details in court filings to ensure the victims did not receive a court summons or a lawsuit notification. As a result, they were unable to defend themselves in court, with some losing the lawsuits, of which they were unaware.
The two men are on trial at the High Criminal Court for feeding false information into the digital systems of the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry and the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA).
During cross-examination, the Public Prosecution reiterated its position by asking the judges to impose maximum penalty on the two men under the law.
The lawyers of the 53-year-old Bahraini businessman and the 44-year-old document clearance agent presented numerous arguments before the court, trying to get their clients off the hook.
“The identity of the person who sat in front of the device and used it to file the lawsuit was not proven by the Public Prosecution,” argued the businessman’s lawyer.
“There is no mention of whether the defendant was the one who keyed in the details.
“In the law, a penalty is given to an individual and cannot be handed down collectively. There is a problem with how the law is applied here.”
Meanwhile, the lawyer of the employee, who the summonses and notifications were allegedly diverted to, said that his client did not choose to put his number in the lawsuits, adding that he neither knew about the messages nor did he open and read them.
Other arguments included claims that the suspects struggled psychologically. Despite the long defence arguments, the prosecutor dismissed all of these claims.
“The reality is that the defendants deprived the families of their deceased victims of their inheritance,” the state attorney said during the hearing.
“The erroneous data is still part of the official record, and the defendants’ mental health is not an excuse.
“The Public Prosecution reiterates its request that the maximum penalty be issued in this trial.”
The GDN earlier reported that it is unclear what cases the 12 individuals were involved in.
The court heard that the convicted conman filed lawsuits through the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry’s website, but allegedly entered his assistant’s phone number and a business address instead of the victims’ actual contact information.
Prosecutors stated that they knowingly lied on online forms of the government bodies, omitting ‘essential information’ from their lawsuit applications.
They were also charged with feeding false data into government systems with the intention of presenting it as genuine.
The same phone number and address were allegedly used as contact details for 12 different individuals across multiple court cases over a period of time.
Some of the alleged victims lost the lawsuits and were unaware that they had received unfavourable judgments according to the Public Prosecution. Some of the victims were dead.
The prosecutor continued that the notifications were sent directly to the legal adviser, who works under the businessman, causing some of the people sued to miss all hearings.
Police reportedly went to the address entered, and found that it belonged to one of the companies owned by the serial conman, while investigations proved that the number was legally registered in the second defendant’s name.
Prosecutors further stated that no one had been authorised to act on behalf of the first defendant or use e-services in his name, and that the lawsuits had been filed using his personal eKey.
The 44-year-old stated in prosecution hearings that he worked as a document clearance officer for several companies owned by his accomplice, from 2008 to 2022, and that he was tasked with keeping track of cases and financial claims.
He also claimed that his co-defendant was known for deceptive business practices, alleging that he sold mobile phones, electronic devices and gold bullion on instalment plans while charging excessive prices.
The 53-year-old businessman, meanwhile, denied knowledge of the alleged practices, telling prosecutors that he was rarely present at his offices and spent much of his time attending court proceedings.
Previously a leading unionist, he was convicted of fraud, embezzlement and scamming customers in many cases over the years, for which he served time in jail.
Judges set September 15 as the date on which a verdict will be issued in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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