Manama : The Head of the Public Prosecution for Financial and Money Laundering Crimes announced that the First High Criminal Court has issued its judgment convicting ten defendants.
Sentences range from ten years’ imprisonment to one year, with fines of BD 100,000 imposed on two defendants and BD 500 on the remaining defendants, for charges including submitting false data through the electronic system of the Social Insurance Organisation and the Labour Fund “Tamkeen,” as well as forging documents and using them to unlawfully obtain more than BD 230,000 from the two entities.
The case arose following multiple reports received by the Public Prosecution for Financial and Money Laundering Crimes from the Social Insurance Organisation concerning several company owners who had unlawfully obtained over BD 90,000 from the Organisation’s funds. The defendants submitted forged documents and entered false data into the Organisation’s electronic system, adding or removing insured individuals to exploit social insurance benefits. This resulted in fictitious employment periods, enabling them to claim retirement pensions, end-of-service gratuities, and lump-sum compensation without entitlement.
The Public Prosecution also received several reports from Tamkeen that the same defendants had unlawfully obtained over BD 140,000 from the Fund, provided as wage support, by submitting forged documents through its electronic system.
The Public Prosecution immediately launched investigations, hearing testimony from representatives of the Social Insurance Organisation, Tamkeen, and other witnesses. It issued travel bans and froze the defendants’ accounts and assets. Investigations were carried out by the Anti-Corruption Crimes Directorate of the General Directorate for Combating Corruption, Economic, and Electronic Security, confirming the defendants’ involvement. The National Financial Investigations Unit was tasked with tracking the defendants’ financial transactions and movements. Testimonies were also taken from employees of the companies involved, and a forgery expert in the Material Evidence Department confirmed that their employment contracts had been falsified.
Subsequently, the Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of the defendants, interrogated them, and confronted them with the verbal, material, and technical evidence collected. The defendants were then referred for criminal trial, which concluded with the announcement of the judgment.
