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Daily Tribune
2 days ago
- Daily Tribune
Woman jailed for forcing maid into unpaid labour and seizing passport
A woman has been jailed for three years and fined BD3,000 after forcing a young Asian domestic worker into unpaid labour and confiscating her passport. The court also ordered her to pay for the victim's return to her home country. The High Criminal Court of Appeal upheld the earlier ruling, which found the woman guilty of running an unlicensed labour arrangement and exploiting the worker for a full year. Visit visa The 25-year-old victim had arrived in Bahrain on a visit visa with the hope of securing work as a housemaid for BD120 a month. She was taken in by the accused, made to sleep on the kitchen floor and passed from one household to another. She worked for nine families in total without receiving her wages after the first two months. Problem The accused withheld BD800 and kept the victim's passport, claiming there was a problem with the document whenever it was requested. The woman told the court she was moved between homes while the accused collected her wages. She was only paid BD200 in total. When one of the families offered to sponsor her legally, the accused refused to hand over the passport. Instead, she continued to send the woman elsewhere and pocketed the income. An Interior Ministry officer testified that his enquiries pointed to forced labour. The victim had worked for several families without a proper licence.
Daily Tribune
09-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Jail term upheld for unlicensed investor who took BD80,000
The High Criminal Court of Appeal has upheld a five-year prison sentence and a BD100,000 fine against a Bahraini man convicted of running an unlicensed investment scheme. He has also been ordered to repay more than BD80,000 to nine victims. The 30-year-old, employed as a sales representative, persuaded several individuals to hand over large sums in 2024. He claimed the money would be invested in electronics and air-conditioning services.
Daily Tribune
25-06-2025
- Daily Tribune
Lawyer loses appeal over forged debt claim
A forged debt claim by a lawyer against his former client has ended in a prison sentence and the loss of the falsified document, after the Court of Cassation upheld the lower rulings. The lawyer was convicted of faking a debt acknowledgment for BD1,000 and attributing it to his client, claiming the money was a loan. Prosecutors said he forged the signature on the document, knew it was false, and then used it to claim money that had originally been entrusted to him in his legal role. The funds had been given to him to handle the client's case against a previous employer. The Lower Criminal Court sentenced him to one year in prison for all connected charges, set bail at BD100 to suspend the sentence, and ordered the forged document to be seized. The lawyer appealed, and the High Criminal Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to six months after acquitting him of embezzling the client's money.
Daily Tribune
09-06-2025
- Daily Tribune
Five-year jail term for Asian woman caught with meth at airport
An Asian woman caught at Bahrain airport with more than a kilo of methamphetamine hidden in her suitcase has been sentenced to five years in prison after appeal judges overturned a lower court's decision to spare her punishment. She was also fined BD3,000 and will be deported permanently once her sentence is served. The High Criminal Court of Appeal sided with the Public Prosecution, which argued that the woman should not have been exempted from liability. Her statements to the police, they said, offered nothing of substance and played no part in uncovering anyone else involved. Investigation The court found that it was the investigation, not her cooperation, that led to the arrest of another suspect and the unravelling of a wider trafficking network. It began with a routine screening of luggage. A customs officer at Bahrain International Airport spotted something unusual in a suitcase arriving from an Asian country. He applied the agreed signal. When the woman collected the bag and made her way through the green channel, she was stopped for inspection. Crystalline substance A crystalline substance was discovered, hidden in the base of the case. A narcotics officer said his team had been called in after the suspected drugs were found. During questioning, the woman named a man who, she claimed, had arranged all her travel. He was arrested later as he tried to leave the country. Further enquiries uncovered a smuggling ring said to be moving psychoactive substances into Bahrain for commercial sale. Drugs The woman's role, according to prosecutors, was to bring the drugs into the country. The man was meant to receive them, divide them up and distribute them. Both were paid. Lab tests confirmed that the material weighed 1,304.3 grams and contained methamphetamine. A video on the woman's phone appeared to show the same kind of substance. Images on the man's phone showed capsules, powders and various public locations believed to be used as drop-off points, in a method commonly employed to pass drugs anonymously. Intent The woman was charged with bringing and possessing methamphetamine with intent to traffic. The man, aged 31, was accused of assisting her by booking her flight, arranging her hotel and facilitating her entry into Bahrain. Prosecutors said these actions directly ena - bled the offence to take place.
Daily Tribune
21-05-2025
- Daily Tribune
Man cleared in drug parcel case
An appeals court has overturned a 15-year prison sentence handed to an Asian man accused of drug trafficking after finding the only link to the case was his name written on a parcel. The High Criminal Court of Appeal ruled there was no direct evidence linking him to a parcel sent from Europe, which was found to contain a kilogram of marijuana hidden in toy kits. Judges determined that his name had been used without his knowledge and that no drugs were discovered on him or at his residence. Two other men, however, were not spared, and their convictions were upheld. Sentences Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison, fined BD5,000 each, and ordered to be deported once their sentences are served. All seized items remained in custody. The parcel arrived at Bahrain International Airport in the summer last year. A customs officer working in the postal unit noticed irregularities when it passed through an X-ray scanner. Herbal substance What appeared to be toy assembly kits were hiding two transparent bags containing a green herbal substance. Tests confirmed the substance was marijuana, weighing one kilogram. The parcel was handed over to the anti-narcotics section at the airport. This led to a covert investigation by a captain in the Anti-Narcotics Directorate who concluded that the three defendants were part of a group importing drugs into Bahrain.
