Business owner jailed and fined BD101,000 over relabelled expired products

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A business owner has been sentenced to three years in jail and fined BD101,000 after the Sixth Lower Criminal Court convicted him and two employees of commercial fraud involving relabelled expired food. The two workers were ordered to be deported permanently once they have served their sentences.

The court found the defendants guilty of possessing spoiled, out-of-date food products and selling and marketing them after expiry dates were altered, alongside a charge of operating without a licence.

Punishments

The second defendant was jailed for two years and fined BD10, while the third defendant received a one-year prison term.

The court also ordered the business to be shut for six months, and ruled that the spoiled and adulterated goods be seized and destroyed, along with the materials and tools used.

It further ordered the publication of a summary of the ruling at the defendants’ expense.

The case began with a complaint to the Public Prosecution from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Inspection

The ministry said its judicial officers, during an inspection at a commercial establishment, found expired food items and signs that the original expiry dates had been removed and replaced with dates that did not match the true shelf life of the products.

Prosecutors visited the premises, carried out an inspection and took a statement from the relevant judicial officer at the ministry.

They ordered the defendants to be arrested and brought in, questioned two of them after their arrest, and remanded them in custody during the investigation.

Seizure

The prosecution also ordered the seizure of the establishment and the food items inside it, and tasked ministry specialists with listing the stock and identifying expired goods.

That inventory led to the seizure of more than 600 expired food products, according to the case file.

The Public Prosecution also appointed a forgery expert from the Physical Evidence Directorate to examine samples of the seized items.

Expiry dates

The expert concluded that expiry dates had been changed by removing the original dates and replacing them, including by swapping labels showing expired dates with labels bearing later ones.

Police enquiries also backed the account.

After the investigation was completed, the Public Prosecution referred the defendants to the competent court, which issued its ruling.