Three get jail terms, fines in bank embezzlement

A court has handed down heavy jail sentences and fines against a former chairman and a general manager of the state-run Housing Bank of Oman (HBO) and two others who have been convicted of embezzlement.
Mohammed Bahram Al Balushi, who served HBO's general manager for more than 10 years, has been jailed for six and fined thrice the amount he took from the bank by the Criminal Court, according to the Royal Oman Police.
Juma bin Hamad Al Nasri, who retired as under-secretary at the Ministry of the Civil Service in 1996 and became the HBO chairman, will spend four years in jail and pay a fine of $365,000.
Yaqoob Faqeer Al Zedjali, who runs his own auditing firm, has been jailed for 40 months and fined thrice the amount he took from the bank,while Mohammed Shahat Al Deib has been sentenced in absentia to eight years' jail and fined $365,000 in addition to three times the amount he stole from the bank.
The court, the country's highest, acquitted Ali bin Hussain Al Haj, Hamdan bin Hamoud Al Marhouqi, Abu Shira Qatabi and Ashok Reddy.
They were arrested last February on charges of embezzlement. The sum involved is believed to run into millions of riyals.
The court trial started in March. The case has been the talk of the town. Its rare nature and the involvement of influential people have ensured that. But no official word was uttered until the ROP released a statement, stressing that the accused had been given every opportunity to defend themselves through lawyers.
The HBO,which was set up in 1997, is the only government-owned specialised bank which offers loans to citizens on easy terms spread over 19 years. It earned a profit of about two million riyals last year against one million riyals in 1998. The bank is also known for its policy of Omanisation. Of its staff of 282, 268 are citizens.
A privately owned housing bank called Alliance Housing Bank has come into being since the HBO was established.
The court is also hearing a case involving a bizarre killing which has awakened immense public interest.
Six accused - a man, his three sons and two accomplices - appeared in court last week. They are charged with killing three jewellers.
The accused and their alleged victims are all Omanis.
According to the ROP, the six suspects invited the jewellers to a farm in Barka last month.
They dined and prayed togther and then the six allegedly butchered the jewellers, dumping their bodies on a farm.
The accused, who originally confessed to the crime, have since retracted their confessions,claiming they were made under police duress.
The last court hearing was attended by 160 people, including relatives and friends of the victims as well as the accused.