A Swedish man was allegedly conned out of BD37,000 ($98,091) with promises of Bahraini citizenship.

The victim, of Iraqi origin, claims he was tricked into handing over the cash by a Bahrain businessman, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

In exchange for the money the victim was allegedly provided a forged document featuring the faked stamp of a senior official, which he handed over to officials at the Interior Ministry’s Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) department.

He wanted Bahraini citizenship to start his own business here and said he trusted the Bahraini businessman, a car rental company manager who allegedly pretended to work at the Interior Ministry.

The Bahraini is now accused of forging official documents belonging to the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence and faking the signature and office stamp of a senior official.

He has been remanded in custody while investigations continue, but has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to forgery and fraud.

“What I am charged with is not true,” the Bahraini told prosecutors.

“I had met him (the victim) in 2010. He was new to Bahrain and did not know anything about the kingdom.

“He asked me to look for land for his company to use as a lab.

“I searched for land, but I did not find a suitable one for him.

“We became close friends and in 2012 he asked me about the procedures for opening a company in Bahrain.

“I told him that because he had Swedish nationality, he needed a Bahraini partner. I offered to provide an official request to the authorised bodies and went to the NPRA where I took six documents from the receptionist and gave them to him (the victim) to fill out.

“He signed the papers and filled five before he wrote my name on one of the papers because I was handing it in myself.

“I then signed the papers and gave the documents to someone to finish the procedures at the NPRA.”

The defendant said he only took BD37,000 from the victim after the latter agreed to make him a partner in the business.

“We agreed that after he got the Bahraini nationality I would be his partner in the company and he gave me BD37,000,” he said.

“He gave me the money over three payments and I told him that I was going to use some of the money in our project and keep the rest for myself.” - TradeArabia News Service