A MAN convicted of forgery and embezzlement yesterday had his three-year jail sentence slashed to 12 months on appeal.

The 46-year-old allegedly forged credit cards and embezzled funds from private accounts worth BD16,000.

The Qatari managed to forge the credit cards by making an online purchase of 16 stolen account numbers worth $500 (BD192) from a US website in May last year.

The defendant also purchased an electronic scanner worth $440 (BD169), which he later used for deleting and entering information into the cards.

According to court documents, he used the stolen account numbers and the scanner to create 40 forged credit cards.

He was arrested last May when he made several purchases worth BD16,000 from shops across the country.

The High Criminal Court initially sentenced him to three years in prison but he appealed against his conviction, which was slashed by the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court.