Ex-Colonel acquitted of fraud charges

Manama : The High Criminal Appeals Court yesterday overturned the conviction of a former Intelligence Colonel, his son and a third defendant in a fraud case. 

The trio were earlier sentenced to three years each in prison for conning two investors, who were searching for land to build a shopping mall. However, the appeals court acquitted all of them due to lack of evidence. 

The Ex-Intelligence Colonel allegedly sold land to the  victims for BD2 million, but it turned out that he wasn’t the original owner of it.  

“We were searching for a plot to establish a local mall. And a broker referred us to him (the colonel), saying that he was the owner of a large plot. When we called him up, he provided us with documents confirming his ownership of the land,” one of the victims stated. 

He demanded BD 2m to complete the deal, one of the investors told prosecutors.

“We gave him several cheques, and he requested us to add a local bank name as the beneficiary of the cheques. It was odd, but we agreed to conclude the deal,” he added. 

“After transferring the money, we went with him to the notary to switch the ownership of the land. But the procedure failed. Later, we tried to reach him but he started ignoring our calls. We later found that he wasn’t the real owner of the land,” he explained.

The other two accused had accompanied him throughout the process, according to the investors. 

The Appeals Court highlighted in its ruling that the defendants didn’t commit any foul play as the colonel had a power of attorney from the original owner to control his wealth. 

The colonel’s lawyer Abdulrahman Ghunaim, meanwhile, told the court earlier that the victims knew that his client wasn’t the real owner of the land. 

“He told them that the land was mortgaged by a bank and it was owned by a woman. My client tried his best to complete the deal and fulfil his commitment,” the lawyer added.