*** ----> Conviction upheld for MoH staff in embezzlement case | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Conviction upheld for MoH staff in embezzlement case

A Health Ministry staff, who was found guilty of embezzlement had his conviction upheld, but his jail term was reduced on appeal.

The defendant was earlier handed down five years behind bars after being found guilty of embezzling the BD3 medications fee that is allocated for expat patients, at one of the Ministry’s health centres. His prison time, however, was cut to two years by the High Criminal Appeals Court.

Court files revealed that the man pocketed the money that was paid by expat patients at a public health centre during his tenure between the years 2011 and 2014, before being caught red-handed.

His offence came to light following an auditing process, which revealed that he processed prescriptions with two different pricing labels, placing them on top of each other. It was also proved that some labels have been obviously removed.

According to prosecutors, the defendant replaced the pricing labels with different ones to manipulate the cash register by skipping some entries and pocketing the money during the process.