BD3m fraud: Businessman gets 10 years, ordered to repay victims

TDT | Manama

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A businessman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined BD100,000 for running an unlicensed BD3 million investment scheme and misappropriating clients’ funds, the First High Criminal Court has ruled.

The court ordered all proceeds confiscated and instructed him to repay the victims, along with BD6,000 and BD1,000 in provisional compensation to two civil claimants.

Prosecutors said the defendant received funds from three victims between 2020 and 2023 after falsely claiming he would invest and manage their money despite having no licence from the Central Bank of Bahrain or any authorised body.

Instead, he kept the funds and high-value movables for personal use.

The first victim transferred BD1.67m in cash, bank payments, cars, jet skis, equipment and luxury items for supposed real estate ventures and business projects, none of which were registered in his name. A second victim transferred one million Saudi riyals for a Manama project involving jet skis and padel courts; he later recovered the amount minus SAR50,000, with no profits provided.

The third victim gave the defendant BD45,000 and was promised a job, profit shares, a luxury car and a BD100,000 cheque, all of which were withdrawn or never delivered. The defendant also took two special vehicle number plates.