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Two Syrian sisters came to Bahrain on tourist visas to allegedly aid a Jordanian man launder money by selling smart phones illicitly purchased using stolen bank card information, the High Criminal Court heard yesterday.
The three are standing trial on charges of laundering more than BD21,800 but only the women appeared before judges, as their co-defendant remains in his home country.
According to court documents, the 26-year-old Jordanian purchased mobile phones online from a well-known electronics retailer using stolen credit card information.
These phones were shipped to where the women were staying, and they in turn re-sold them based on instructions from the mastermind before transferring a portion of their ill-gotten gains to him, after taking a cut.
The sisters, aged 35 and 39, allegedly managed to convince well-meaning buyers to transfer the money, by claiming that they were on tourist visas and could not make their own transfers.
Some of the money was also transported to their co-defendant with the help of unwitting accomplices.
The alleged plot unravelled when the store’s payment service provider, Eazy Pay, received a letter from authorities in Saudi Arabia about scam incidents that may have occurred on the retailer’s site.
The payment company informed the store that there appeared to be a number of suspicious transactions on the platform, involving the sale of 77 devices worth more than BD31,000.
In turn, the retailer’s security office contacted the National Centre for Financial Intelligence, reporting the pattern of dubious purchases of mobiles from the online store.
After an investigation, the centre reported that the purchases, worth BD31,081, were made from Jordanian, Saudi and Emirati accounts. All the devices were delivered to the sisters.
The two Syrians were accused of facilitating the Jordanian man’s fraudulent schemes, in an attempt to make the cash he stole appear legitimate in the eyes of authorities.
The older sister admitted to coming to Bahrain on the behest of a man, receiving shipments on his behalf, selling them and taking an agreed-upon percentage, and ultimately sending the money to family members in the UAE.
Prosecutors charged the man with stealing other people’s money by illicitly obtaining their private bank card credentials, between September to December 2024.
The sisters were charged with aiding and abetting the man behind the money laundering, by purchasing Bahraini phone numbers and giving him their information and address for the deliveries.
Although BD31,000 in devices was purchased from the retailer, the women had only sent BD21,846.600 to Jordan at the time of their arrest – the product of the sale of 71 devices.
Judges adjourned the hearing to April 13 for defence arguments.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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