Bahrain: Woman Ordered to Return BD 2,700 to Housing Ministry
The Court of Cassation approved a ruling obligating a woman to return a sum of BD2,700 which she unrightfully seized by taking a housing allowance for two years and three months. The Court of First Instance had previously sentenced her to imprisonment; however, she resorted to the Court of Appeal, which ruled to replace the one-year sentence with an obligation to refund the amount.
An official at the Ministry of Housing discovered that the defendant unrightfully claimed housing allowance for 27 months. After examining the documents, it was found that she had submitted a photocopy of a ruling from the Sharia Court stating that she was entitled to custody of her two sons. Based on these documents, a housing allowance of BD100 was paid to her.
In the investigations, the defendant denied her guilt stating that following the divorce, her former husband filed a custody case for their two children. She submitted an urgent request before the Sharia Court to summarily award her custody, but a ruling was issued in favour of the husband which she was not made aware of. During that period, she was cashing in the housing allowance, which amounted to BD2,700.
The Public Prosecution referred the defendant to the court after charging her with forging an official document, which is a housing unit application form, under the pretext of being the custodian of her two minor sons and using that false document to seize cash amounts owned by the Ministry of Housing through fraudulent means.
