Man’s plea rejected in identity theft case

TDT | Manama

The First Supreme Criminal Court of Appeal recently upheld the punishment of an Asian man who was convicted of using the identity cards of 13 people to get mobile phones from telecommunication companies seven years ago. According to investigations, the appellant persuaded the 13 victims to hand over their identity cards, after he informing them that he would employ them. He was earlier sentenced to five years imprisonment and deportation for forgery.

The case surfaced when 11 of the victims lodged a complaint against the appellant back in 2013, stating that he collected their CPR cards on claims that he would employ them, but instead he used the cards to get new mobile phones on instalment basis from two telecommunication companies. The appellant apparently had unknown accomplices in both companies who assisted him in filling the application forms to obtain the mobile phones using the victims’ identity cards, according to Prosecutors.

The charges against the appellant also included forging the signature of the victims, providing official documents that included false information and collecting the devices with the help of fraudulent methods.