A group of swindlers, who last year scammed more than 30 unsuspecting businesses in Bahrain out of goods and services worth almost BD400,000, has been ordered to financially compensate one of the victims by the High Commercial Court.
The defendants will have to pay a publishing and marketing company BD29,514.934 in addition to a legal annual interest rate of four per cent, BD164 for translation fees, BD2.600 for postal fees and BD500 for legal expenses.
Last year, the conmen scammed a number of businesses including hotels, travel agencies and electronic suppliers, among others.
More than 15 police cases were filed against the men, who reportedly operated out of a company in Seef, led by a 36-year-old Indian national who owned about 49 per cent of the company.
According to court documents, the conmen owed about BD29,000 after the publishing and marketing company supplied them with computers and other electronic devices, confirmed by six invoices.
One of the defendants reportedly issued six cheques worth the total owed amount. However, they all bounced back.
The victim then learned that the man who had issued the cheques had fled the country immediately, while another defendant sold the devices to a trading company and then himself fled the country.
The victim immediately filed a complaint with the authorities who launched an investigation into the incident.
One of the defendants, a 75-year-old Bahraini from East Riffa, who owned the remaining 51 per cent of the company, according to Sijilat, was identified.
He not only denied any wrongdoing, but also refuted signing any cheques in favour of the victims.
It was later revealed that there was only about BD5,000 in the company’s bank account, and that the cheques were issued with the knowledge that they would bounce.
As evidence, the victim submitted purchase orders, printed materials, six invoices along with Arabic translations, the six cheques signed by one of the conmen, bank statements showing that the cheques had bounced, a statement showing the defendant’s debt, and a quote for the purchase of the computers and devices.
Receipts for payment of translation fees and legal expenses were also submitted.
FLASHBACK: The previous story covering the case
The court first heard the case in late November, with one of the witnesses, a sales manager who worked for the victim company, testifying.
He stated that as agreed, his company had handed over the devices after making sure there were no defects or issues and was then presented with the cheques which eventually bounced.
The company was later informed that the defendants had an insufficient bank balance, but when the company went to confront the defendants they were long gone.
The sales manager argued that by not paying the victims what they were owed, the accused were effectively harming their business.
After deliberating the case, the judges ruled in the favour of the victim, and ordered the accused to pay back the money that was owed in addition to other necessary expenses.
In August last year, the GDN reported that the accused had scammed a travel agency out of BD1,999 worth of products after building trust with the agent and paying them for the first few orders.
Some of the victims began to petition the Indian Embassy and police officials in Kerala to arrest the individuals.
According to Sijilat, the company’s commercial registration, which was issued in 2018, has now been declared ‘Deleted by Law’.
The company’s website, which was earlier reported showing a ‘404 Not Found’ message, has been removed from the Sijilat database.
Its Seef office has been cleared out, and items taken as part of the fraud include industrial safety products, building materials, frozen food, stationery, disposable plastic items, meat products, laptops and groceries.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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