Bahrain: Lawyer Faces Criminal Trial For Misappropriating Client Funds
The Attorney General of the Northern Governorate announced that the Public Prosecution has formally charged a lawyer with criminal proceedings for misappropriating funds entrusted to her by a defendant in a criminal case.
According to an official statement, the lawyer had received BD8,000 from her client to settle a complaint filed against him in an unrelated case. However, she retained the full amount for personal use and spent half the sum on private matters.
The prosecution received a complaint from the aggrieved party alleging the lawyer, who had been mandated to represent the complainant’s son in a separate criminal trial, failed to deliver the money as agreed.
This resulted in the defendant being convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. An investigation was launched in which the accused lawyer admitted to the prosecution that she did not settle the complaint as instructed and had spent BD8,000 of the entrusted funds on her own expenses.
Based on sufficient evidence, the public prosecution has formally charged the lawyer with breach of trust and referred the case to the competent criminal court. The first hearing has been scheduled for October 31, 2023, before the Lower Criminal Court.
