Bahrain Mirror: Owners of a contracting company have allegedly fled the country after duping around 40 companies to the tune of thousands of dinars, through giving them cheques without balance, the English-language Bahraini "Daily Tribune" newspaper said.

The Ministry of Commerce's website stated that the company, named "Indo-Arab Contracting" is officially owned by an Indian citizen and a Bahraini. However, it seems that the company is managed by a group of Indians. The website shows that the company's commercial record remains active until November 2018 and that it was established in 2009. It also reveals that the company is linked to other companies, including "2022 Burj Building Construction" owned by the same people.

It is to note that the Bahraini authorities allowed foreigners to freely own and establish commercial companies without a Bahraini partner, which caused several problems and challenges in the market.

The newspaper said that the Bu Quwah-based company bamboozled businesses through cheque fraud; they issued a number of cheques to the business houses that were declined by banks.

Multiple police reports were filed against the company owners by the disgruntled victims. Over 40 companies have come to CID office to file complaints and the number keeps increasing day-by-day, according to sources. They say some top companies in the Kingdom have fallen victim to the fraud.

"The cheques were issued during Eid holidays. This was a planned move as the cheques bounced by the time banks reopened," said one of the fraud victims.

The news has reached India as well. An activist in India recently posted a video on social media requesting the public to help locate the accused who might have reached India.

"I heard that they are from Tamil Nadu, if anyone has any information about them please share. It is claimed that they have escaped to Dubai. They have cheated numerous individuals and they need to be brought to justice," the activist says in the video.

The company apparently has branches in Bahrain, the UAE, Oman and India. The group also claims that an office would be set up soon in Malaysia.

According to the website, no contact numbers could be found for the UAE, Oman and India offices on their website and the company's Bahrain number does not return a response.

Arabic Version