Asian woman faces retrial for forging Health Ministry’s Covid-19 test result and quarantine papers

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A woman accused of forging a Ministry of Health Covid-19 test result and quarantine certificate is facing a retrial after the High Criminal Court overturned an earlier sentence that handed her a year in prison, a BD500 fine, and deportation.

A new hearing is scheduled next Sunday.

The woman, of Asian nationality, had been working for a cosmetics firm when she sent her employer a message via WhatsApp.

She claimed she had tested positive for Covid-19 and would be isolating for two weeks.

Attached to the message was a photograph of what appeared to be an official Ministry of Health test result bearing her name and confirming infection. She did not return to work.

Discrepancies

The employer, unconvinced by the document, examined the details and noticed discrepancies.

He contacted the Team Bahrain hotline to verify the result. Staff requested a copy of the attachment.

After checking, they informed him there was no record of such a test. He lodged a police report. Investigators concluded that the woman had fabricated both the test result and the quarantine certificate.

Documents

She had designed them to mimic genuine documents issued by the Ministry of Health through its electronic platform.

A check of the ministry’s database confirmed no test had been recorded for the woman on the date shown.

During questioning by the Public Prosecution, the woman admitted to forging the documents.

Depression

She told the court her actions followed the death of her daughter a month earlier, which had left her deeply depressed.

The suspect also claimed that her employer had not paid her wages.

Prosecutors charged her with forging an official electronic record, alleging that in December 2022 she produced false papers attributed to the Ministry of Health, including a test result and quarantine certificate.