A Doha Criminal Court has sentenced an expatriate to five years in jail for fraud and forgery, local daily Al Sharq reported yesterday.
The accused, who used to work for a rental company sponsored and owned by a local man, had allegedly sold 30 cars that he did not own.
According to the details of the case, the owner found out that the accused was “manipulating” the business and not discharging his duties properly. The accused was then
“suspended”.
Upon a review of the cars, the owner discovered that some of the vehicles were missing and had been sold by the accused. He then lodged a police
complaint against the accused.
During investigation, the owner said the accused sold several cars without giving him any notice, while the registration of some vehicles had expired and some others had unpaid fines for traffic violations against them.
Meanwhile, the accused admitted that he had sold the cars, but claimed that he used to put the owner’s signature on documents as had been approved by the business owner. He also paid the owner the price of the sold cars, he claimed.
The accused said he was not getting enough income from the business lately and had to sell the cars to clear the cheques he had given to his sponsor as he used to pay him around QR100,000 a month.
Earlier, the local businessman had met the accused at a gymnasium and offered him a job as the manager of the rental business for QR10,000 a month, which the latter
accepted.
After a few months and without considerable income, the sponsor suggested that the accused run the business in exchange for a fixed monthly sum. They agreed on a “rent” of QR86,000 a month, which had to be paid to the sponsor.
For three months, the accused paid the money regularly. The sum was revised to QR99,000 a month after he wanted to upgrade the business and include luxury cars.
As disputes between the two parties arose, the sponsor went to the Traffic Department to check the status of his cars. There, he found out that the accused had sold some 30 cars by allegedly forging his signature.
In the court, the accused admitted to having forged the owner’s signature on sale documents, but also claimed that this was a routine affair as he had been given authorisation by his sponsor. Moreover, the accused paid the owner the price of the vehicles as the agreed rent value.
