Filipina’s jail term hiked in fraud case

Manama

A Filipino nurse tried over accusations of embezzlement has had her jail term increased after the High Criminal Appeals Court has accepted the appeal of the Public Prosecution. The woman was earlier given only three months behind bar and the Public Prosecution challenged the High Criminal Court's verdict terming it 'inadequate'.

The High Criminal Appeals Court has stiffened her sentence, sending her to five years in prison. The defendant was serving in a private hospital, and was detained over suspicions of pocketing BD24,000 from 2013 until May 2015.

It's said that the woman had manipulated receipts in a bid to embezzle the money paid by the patients. She was enrolling patients without medical insurance to the insured section.

She would charge them BD20, but in return would issue receipts for BD5 or BD3. According to court documents, the defendant admitted to being aware of the fact that insurance companies do take time to response to transactions given to them. The total of the pocketed amount was identified after a financial audit was conducted covering the years 2013, 2014 and 2015.