The legal adviser of a well-known Bahraini real estate company has been accused of doctoring a court verdict and submitting it to the Royal Family Council.
The trial’s first hearing at the High Criminal Court took place yesterday where the 41-year-old lawyer appeared with his own attorney.
In prosecution questioning, the Bahraini man claimed that he submitted the forged document to the company after reading it on the computer of another lawyer.
He was charged with forging a court verdict attributed to the High Civil Court, making it appear as if it was genuine, and using it despite being aware that it was fake.
The allegedly doctored document was the verdict in a civil case, in which the real estate company that the defendant represented sued two members of the council along with the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB).
The case involved the sale and transfer of ownership of a piece of land from the Royal Family Council to the company, and the transfer was going to be finalised based on these documents.
The council’s legal affairs department allegedly discovered the forgery after submitting the documents to the SLRB for approval, which had submitted it to the courts for confirmation.
The Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry’s courts director reportedly told the Public Prosecution that no such verdict existed in court records.
“We received a letter inquiring about the validity of a verdict, and after checking it against our records and conducting an investigation, it appeared that the verdict was a forgery,” the director testified.
“The serial number on the ruling belonged to a different case, and the High Civil Court’s second circuit did not have a hearing on the date listed on the document.
“The civil court did not even hear this case in the first place.”
Meanwhile, the defendant stated that he read and sent the verdict from the computer of another lawyer, whose name appeared as the plaintiff’s attorney in the allegedly doctored ruling.
However, this lawyer testified that the defendant was the only person licensed to raise lawsuits on behalf of the company.
The accused has been a practising attorney since 2006, and is licensed to appear before both Cassation and Constitutional Courts – Bahrain’s two highest judiciary bodies.
Records show that the lawyer was appointed as general counsel and legal adviser for the real estate company in 2020.
According to his criminal record, he has previously been found guilty of falsifying documents.
The trial has been adjourned to January 20 for the defence responses.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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