A BAHRAINI businessman is in the dock for allegedly pocketing more than BD20 million from a telecommunications company, a court heard.
The 38-year-old, who was a partner in the company that shut down in Bahrain, has been arrested for fraud, forgery, embezzlement and money laundering.
The money that he allegedly pocketed over a four-year period included more than BD14m that he embezzled after agreeing to carry out maintenance work by another company he owned but failed to do so.
The defendant and another businessman, aged 58, accused of aiding and abetting the crime appeared in the High Criminal Court yesterday for their first hearing, where they both denied the charges.
“Your honour I request to be released on bail and to have the travel ban imposed on me to be lifted,” the 38-year-old man said in court yesterday.
“I did not commit fraud or embezzlement.”
Prosecutors said the defendant also made BD1m in profits from the telecommunications company after he forged official company documents.
They argued that the defendant committed the crime between 2011 and 2015.
“The defendant conducted several financial transactions using fraud and forgery at the telecommunications company he was a partner in,” stated prosecutors in court documents. He was one of the board members and used his position to pocket up to BD20m.
“He also used his private company to pretend to carry out maintenance work worth BD14m which he did not carry out and pocketed the money instead.
“He also fraudulently recorded his shares to be 40 per cent instead of the 15pc he actually owned.
“In addition, he faked the company bank records to increase the stocks in the firm in order to pocket BD1.6m.”
Defence lawyers were yesterday given CDs containing more than 10,000 court documents, and the court adjourned the trial to October 8 for review.
noorz@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))