*** VAT fraudster jailed for five years and fined | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

VAT fraudster jailed for five years and fined

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

An Asian man, aged 34, who used stolen bank cards to pay VAT taxes totaling BD50,000, has been sentenced to five years in prison and fined BD5,000. The defendant was tried before the High Criminal Court which ordered expelling him from the country after completing his sentence.

As per the case records, the defendant’s illicit activities were first discovered when he used a locally-owned bank card to purchase BD300 worth of cryptocurrency.

This transaction led investigators to uncover a larger scheme involving the stolen cards and significant VAT payments.

Payments

The defendant allegedly utilised these stolen cards, originating from an Asian country, to make payments to a contracting company through the government’s e-services portal.

He later expanded his operations by entering the cryptocurrency market, employing the locally-owned bank card among others.

The 34-year-old reportedly offered a local contracting company the chance to pay its VAT tax at reduced rates in exchange for cash payments.