A ship repairer has landed in court on charges of stealing his friend’s boat, and forging ownership transfer papers in order to sell off the vessel.
The 36-year-old Bahraini claimed that he sold the vessel because he was owed money.
He was charged with collaborating with a well-meaning Small Vessels Registration Office employee to transfer the ownership from the original owner to himself, then from himself to the buyer.
The defendant, who has a boat maintenance business, denied committing a crime, though he had previously admitted to selling the seacraft.
The boat’s original owner had purchased it in 2022 for his brother, so he could practise his hobby of sailing and fishing, the court heard.
However, the boat was soon confined in a stable owned by the brothers, when the vessel received a violation or fine which was not specified.
“The defendant frequented the stable in which the boat was stored,” read a summary of the Public Prosecution’s case against the man.
“In time, the owner and his brother found out that the boat had disappeared, and upon enquiring found out that the suspect had taken it.
“He took the vessel without its owner’s knowledge or consent, claiming to have removed it in order to clean and maintain it.
“When he was asked to return it, the defendant said that he had sold off the vessel, claiming that the brother owed him money that was never returned to him, and that he had to recoup the amount somehow.”
Both the brothers testified that they had discovered that the owner’s signature was falsified by the defendant in order to transfer the vessel to his own name, and then pass it on to a buyer.
The man, who eventually purchased it, said that he was looking for a small ship since he liked fishing, and admired the boat when he saw it, and decided to buy it.
He added that both the defendant and he finished the transaction in person, under the pretence that the suspect was the true owner.
A clerk at the Transportation and Telecommunication Ministry’s Small Vessels Registration Office, who approved the transfer and signed off on the paperwork, also testified to the prosecution.
He stated that the transfer appeared to have satisfied the required criteria, and that the documents required to complete the process had been provided.
Forensic experts determined that two of the signatures on the forms belonged to the defendant, but could not tell who the author of a third signature was.
The court heard several defence witnesses, cross-examined by lawyers, judges and a prosecution representative, who testified that the suspect did indeed work in ship maintenance.
The trial continues.
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