TDT | Manama
Two Asian men were sentenced by the Bahrain High Criminal Court to three years in prison each for tax evasion and smuggling. The court also ordered them to jointly repay BD58,727 in evaded taxes and fined each of them the same amount. Additionally, both men will be deported from Bahrain after completing their prison sentences. The court also fined one of the men’s companies, BD352,362, and ordered the confiscation of seized goods.
The case originated with a report from Bahrain Customs officials who suspected a shipment imported by the defendants from an Asian country contained illegal goods. Upon inspection, authorities discovered “paan,” a banned substance, and cigarettes that were not authorised for import. The goods were seized, and an investigation was launched. The Tax Crimes Unit also received a request from the National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) to initiate criminal proceedings against the defendants for evading excise and value-added taxes on the smuggled goods.
In the investigation, it was revealed that the defendants and their company were responsible for attempting to smuggle the banned goods and evading a total of BD108,047 in taxes. This led to the case being referred to the court, which ultimately issued the aforementioned verdict.
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