Fake gold case hearing in Sept

Manama

Closing arguments would be delivered on September 14 in the trial of an Asian man involved in selling fake gold to a Riffa jewellery shop.

The owner of the shop said that the accused came to the shop proposing to sell and exchange gold pieces.  “He presented to me a receipt showing that the items were purchased from another jewellery shop,” the owner added. He was later captured following police investigations after the gold was tested to be fake.

The suspect was earlier held guilty in connection with selling fake gold for more than BD31,000 by the High Criminal Court. He was then sentenced to two years of imprisonment and deportation for his crime. Another accused in connection with this case was given an equal jail time.

According to court files, one of them testified that they worked in the field of construction in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He informed that they purchased five kilograms of fake gold in addition to four grams of real gold, worth BD75.

When they reached Bahrain, they approached the shop with a bag of gold – hiding the fake ones in the bottom of a bag and placing the genuine pieces on the top. They told the shopkeeper that they have found the gold buried in an old house and showed a sample of the original gold they’ve previously purchased. The shopkeeper agreed to buy the whole bag, after he was certain that the sample he saw was original.

Sealing off the deal, the victim agreed to buy the entire bag for BD31,777. The victim then paid the accused BD11, 000 as down payment. He then went back to the shop to examine the remaining pieces, only to discover they were fake.