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Three men – a Bahraini and two Iranians – have been found guilty of evading BD61,380 in value-added tax (VAT) owed to the government by their company, which sells car spare parts and lubricants.
Yesterday, all three received a one-year suspended prison sentence and were fined BD61,380. The fourth defendant, the business itself, was fined BD368,284 by the High Criminal Court.
The Bahraini defendant earlier admitted to the charges, stating he was solely responsible for the company’s operations, and that his two business partners, who were tried in absentia, have not been in Bahrain since 2014 and 2019 respectively.
The three men were charged with failing to pay dues on taxable products and services provided by the company they own. The company stood trial alongside them as an ‘artificial person’ and was charged with being used by the defendants to commit tax evasion.
In a previous hearing, the 46-year-old Bahraini’s lawyer submitted receipts to the court that show that he had paid off a considerable portion of the money owed to the National Bureau for Revenue (NBR).
“I started the company with two Iranian partners in 2007,” the man earlier testified. “I run the business, and they’re both out of the country.
“In 2022, the business declined, as many clients were not paying us on time. So I had to redirect money that was supposed to be go to the NBR to instead pay my employees’ salaries.”
According to commercial registration (CR) portal Sijilat, the Bahraini owned 51 per cent of the business, while the Iranians owned 10pc and 39pc respectively.
The business’s Sijilat page reads ‘suspended by NBR’.
According to an NBR revenue analyst, the business did not file its reports since the second quarter (Q2) of 2022 to the Q4 of 2025, with the exception of two quarters, despite being registered with the NBR.
Meanwhile, the Iranians aged 45 and 74, appear to reside in Bastak in the south of Iran. They have not entered Bahrain in seven and 12 years respectively.
The sentences will be actioned if upheld after the court appeal processes are concluded.
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