.jpg?20260916')
A Bahraini businessman has been sentenced to five years in prison and fined BD10,000 after being convicted of fraud in three separate cases, bringing his total sentence to 15 years and his fines to BD30,000.
The man, a former unionist, had sued 35 people for money and damages, but provided false contact information to ensure they were not aware of being sued.
In all three cases, the 53-year-old man was charged with intentionally inputting incorrect contact information for the victims when initiating the lawsuits – accusations he denied.
In the first case, the businessman stood trial alongside an employee, who was also found guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison and fined BD10,000.
The court heard that the victims’ legal standing was damaged by his actions, as they were unable to attend hearings or defend themselves in court. Some victims’ bank accounts and property were frozen without their knowledge. Some of these lawsuits are still ongoing in the Civil Court.
Some of those sued were even deceased.
According to the Public Prosecution, their families were deprived of their inheritance as a result of the sequestration orders placed on their property.
The defendant has cancer and is reportedly undergoing chemotherapy. He was granted bail during the trial, but the BD5,000 bail was too high for him to pay, so he remained imprisoned.
The Public Prosecution had asked the court to issue the maximum penalty in the trials.
In the first case, involving 12 victims, the two men were accused of entering their own contact details to ensure that the individuals being sued did not receive a court summons or a lawsuit notification.
In the other two cases, the businessman was the sole defendant accused of carrying out the same acts between 2018 and 2022, harming 14 and nine people respectively.
The GDN previously reported that the former unionist was convicted of fraud, embezzlement and scamming customers in many cases over the years, for which he served time in jail.
The businessman and the 44-year-old document clearance specialist were charged with entering false information into the digital systems of two governmental bodies.
Prosecutors stated that they knowingly lied on online forms of the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry (MOJ) and the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA), omitting ‘essential information’ from their lawsuit applications.
Police reportedly went to the address entered, and found that it belonged to one of the companies owned by the man, while investigations proved that the number was legally registered under the second defendant’s name.
The same number and address had been submitted as contact information for 12 different people, in various court cases over several years.
In these lawsuits, he demanded outstanding payments or debts from the people he sued.
No individual had been authorised to act on the first defendant’s behalf or use any e-services under his name, prosecutors stated, and the lawsuits were filed with his personal eKey.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))