Bahrain Mirror: Bahraini Supreme Appeals Court presided over by advisor Isa Al-Ka'bi and Hamad Bou Shelbi as secretariat issued a first degree sentence to imprison a gulf national for five years and keeping him out of his country over fraud charges. The suspect received a lebanese national into thinking that he could bring him a Bahraini citizenship, and by that he was able to gain 200 thousand Saudi Riyal.

In their testimonies, it was stated that the suspect was accompanied by others who claimed to be influential figures and have the power to secure a Bahraini nationality for him, and received amounts of money to do so. The suspect was taken into custody after cooperation with the police.

The Public Prosecution charged him with forgery of official documents, for he falsified a signature and used a forged stamp on the document and gave it to the aggrieved party, claiming that it is an official paper issued by the royal court and department of nationality affairs.

The authorities said that the aggrieved party, according to his statement, is a businessman who practices his profession in gulf states. One of his friends advised him to seek a Bahraini nationality in order to facilitate his business in GCC states and told him about a person who has close ties with people who work in the General Department for Nationality & Passport Residence and who can help him get a Bahraini nationality. Over a phone call, the suspect informed him that the cost of getting a citizenship will cost him about 250,000 Saudi Riyal and that he has to pay 200,000 in advance, so he paid the amount. After a while, the suspect called him and informed him that his Bahraini nationality was issued and send him a pictures of the passport and royal court document over the phone, claiming that he cannot send him the passport before he pays the rest of the amount. However, when the aggrieved party arrived in Bahrain, he was surprised that he was a target of a fraud.

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