Ministry rewards inspectors for refusing bribe

Two government officials were given three months’ salary as reward for rejecting a bribe in exchange for dismissing commercial fraud.

The two officials were a part of the inspection team at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry who were checking for violations of the Anti-Fraud Law of the Kingdom.

Without revealing the names of the officers, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) said Thursday that the concerned inspectors were honored for their honesty and integrity by its Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al-Rabiah.

The infraction occurred when the MCI carried out an inspection campaign at a site used for storing fake and counterfeit goods by illegal workers.
The establishment was run by an Asian expatriate, who was coordinating with foreign factories involved in fraud and counterfeiting. The imported fake products are sold on the local market and the expatriate had been transferring money to the foreign manufactures for the delivery of the fake goods.
The rewarded officers caught the illegal trader by deploying decoys to purchase the counterfeit products.

Meanwhile in a separate incident, an MCI inspection team arrested a group of workers who were trying to paste labels of smartphones such as Samsung and iPhones onto counterfeit products and selling them in the local market. It was learned that the head of the gang had attempted to offer bribes to the inspection team to escape punishment under the Anti-Fraud Law.

An official from the MCI emphasized that it will not be lenient in imposing legal penalties against violators who are involved in fraud and counterfeiting. “We cannot compromise the health and safety of consumers at any cost,” he added.
The ministry has called on consumers to report their complaints and observations through the toll free number 1900, or through the application of a commercial notification.