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A man has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined BD1,000 for stealing a parked motorcycle and using a mobile phone found inside its storage compartment to transfer BD260 to his own account.
Court records showed the 26-year-old Bahraini had previously been accused at least six times of stealing motorcycles, bicycles and scooters, and was once again found guilty of stealing a motorbike in the latest case.
The court heard that the victim’s PIN code, ‘123456’, was so weak that the defendant was able to gain access to his online banking account with ease.
Bikes from brands like Bajaj, Aprilia, Kawasaki, Suzuki and even a Saudi make, named Mehdi, were listed as having been stolen by the defendant on his criminal record.
According to court documents, he has served a total of one year and eight months in prison in connection with four motorcycle theft cases. He has also previously faced allegations of dining and dashing, drug use and minor assault.
Although he was earlier charged with misdemeanours in the aforementioned petty theft cases, he is now facing felony charges for allegedly accessing an Indian man’s bank account without authorisation.
“It was late at night when I parked my motorcycle outside my flat in Gudaibiya, which I later learned had been stolen,” the 46-year-old Indian victim testified.
“I had left my phone inside it and later received three notifications showing transfers totalling BD260.400 from my account, but I hadn’t made the transfers.”
A letter from the victim’s bank identified the defendant as the beneficiary of the transfers.
During Public Prosecution questioning, he reportedly admitted making the transactions, while security camera footage captured him carrying out the offence.
The Bahraini was charged with using the victim’s electronic signature for illegal acts, unlawfully accessing his digital banking system, taking his money through deception, and stealing his property.
The incident occurred in 2023 but is only now being heard before the High Criminal Court.
Prosecutors say that after the incident, he went on to steal four more motorcycles.
On multiple occasions, he allegedly took motorcycles parked outside victims’ flats or homes.
In another incident, he is accused of taking a Kawasaki motorcycle for a purported test ride from a seller and failing to return it. He was also accused in 2023 of stealing a man’s 1995 Toyota Camry after the owner entered a mosque to perform dawn prayers.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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