TWO men have been jailed for forging a Covid-19 test report to travel across the causeway and sell the famous Bahraini halwa, a traditional sweet, in Saudi Arabia.
The Bahranis, aged 33 and 35, were found guilty of forgery by the Lower Criminal Court, which jailed each of them for 12 months yesterday.
The men were caught at the Saudi border in May this year.
“The defendants deliver traditional sweets and snacks to Saudi Arabia and needed a negative PCR result taken 72 hours before travelling,” the court said in its ruling.
“Instead of doing a Covid-19 test, they tampered with an earlier report produced on May 18 and changed the date to May 24.”
The 33-year-old claimed that he had to constantly travel to Saudi to transport food items and that it was difficult to get a PCR test report on time.
“I lost my job and started delivering halwa and mathai chips to Saudi Arabia,” he earlier told prosecutors.
“I bagged several orders and had to travel a lot to meet customers’ expectations.
“It was tough to do a PCR test every time.
“So, I changed the date on an earlier report and was apprehended.”
Another 38-year-old was earlier found guilty by the High Criminal Court of forging PCR test results as well as using the fake document to travel to Saudi Arabia.
The GDN reported that he was caught on King Fahad Causeway on June 27 this year. He admitted to forging the report and claimed he had no money for a PCR test.
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