Bahrain: Court Upholds Fines For Raising Over BD26,000 Without Licence

Two former leaders of a professional society have been found guilty of gathering more than BD26,000 without official permission, after the Court of Cassation upheld previous rulings.

The court imposed a fine of BD100 each on the society’s former chairwoman and the former financial secretary. Judges also ordered the BD26,062 raised illegally to be seized by the authorities.

Prosecutors said the two defendants had breached fundraising regulations by collecting donations without securing the proper government authorisation.

Collection PracticesThe incident surfaced after the Minister of Social Development alerted prosecutors that civil society monitors in his department had discovered unlawful collection practices.

In her defence, the ex-chairwoman insisted she never personally handled the BD26,062. She maintained the funds were directly transferred to the bank account of an event management firm hired to organise a conference, under an agreement with her association.

Hotel ExpensesFrom that sum, BD15,000 was reportedly spent settling hotel expenses, for which she provided invoices, with the remainder handed to the organising company.

However, the courts remained unconvinced by these claims, concluding the funds had been improperly raised without the mandatory approval.

Source News Of Bahrain