09/02/12, 18:49:18 EST

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Trial is set for 'airline cheats'

gulf-daily-news.com

A DATE has been fixed for the trial of six Gulf Air employees accused of conning Haj pilgrims out of money.

They have officially been charged with forgery and embezzlement and will now appear before the Lower Criminal Court on October 30, Public Prosecutor Shaikh Hamad bin Salman Al Khalifa said yesterday.

The men were reported to the Public Prosecution on September 23 and allegedly cheated Haj pilgrims.

They were said to have cheated customers of around BD3,785 between them last December 2006.

They were stationed in Jeddah for Haj and are accused of cheating customers by overcharging them for hotel packages and pocketing the extra money.

The alleged racket was uncovered as a result of an appeal by Gulf Air for employees to help investigators from the UK-based forensic audit firm Kroll, brought in to probe allegations of financial mismanagement at the airline, sources previously told the GDN.

Three other employees were also questioned, but later released.

 Printable Version  | published Oct 22, 2007