Verdict due in VAT watch fraud case
TDT | Manama
Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com
Two Asian men accused of hiding four luxury watches at Bahrain International Airport and wrongly collecting more than BD309,000 in VAT refunds will hear the court’s ruling on 30 December.
The High Criminal Court is trying the pair, aged 35 and 40, on charges of tax evasion and attempted smuggling.
Prosecutors say the men filed 182 VAT refund requests worth BD309,755 through the airport tourist refund desk, even though they were buying watches in Bahrain to sell abroad, which places them outside the scheme.
The case began after the Tax Evasion Crimes Unit at the Financial Crimes and Money Laundering Prosecution received a report from the Financial Intelligence National Centre (FINC), following a referral by Customs Affairs.
The report said two travellers were trying to leave the customs area with undeclared high-value watches. Customs officers stopped the men in the departure hall and asked if they had cash or valuables to declare.
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