Janitor makes calls worth 90,000 riyals on SIM card he found in Qatar

Manama: A janitor in Qatar who found a mobile SIM card and used it to call family and friends is being asked to pay the costs — a staggering QR90,000 (Dh90,743).

The public authority employing the janitor told the court reviewing the case in the capital Doha that the card was its property and that he had stolen it and used it for more than four months, accumulating the huge bills.

According to the authority, the bills for the number jumped from the regular QR1,000 a month to QR15,000 and then to QR20,000 for four months.

The discrepancy was discovered by an employee who, surprised by the huge bills, contacted the man to whom the SIM card was given and enquired about the situation.

The man said he had lost the SIM card and thought it had been discontinued by the phone operator. He added he was not aware of the accumulating bills, Qatari daily Al Raya reported on Tuesday.

The authority contacted the phone operator and requested them to trace the calls made through the SIM card and help them identify the user.

The investigation revealed that the card was used for hundreds of local phone calls and for international calls to five countries.

The user was identified as the janitor, and the authority took him to court, asking that he pay the bills since he used the card.

However, the lawyer for the janitor, whose nationality was not given, refuted the arguments and insisted that his client was innocent. He argued that the janitor did not steal the card and that he found it near a rubbish bin, which made him believe it was thrown away.

The lawyer said the authority should hold its employee responsible for his attitude and for failing to report the loss of the card.

The company should also be accountable for not noticing the hike in the bills in the first time and subsequently over the four months, denoting a failure to protect public funds, the lawyer said.

In his testimonies, the janitor said he found the SIM card on the floor and keep it with him. He was agreeably surprised sometime later when he tested it and discovered that it was valid. He used it to make local and international calls and on some occasions allowed friends to get in touch with family members in their home countries.

He insisted that he was not aware the SIM card belonged to his employers and therefore did not report he found it.

The court adjourned the trial to the end of the month.