Saudi Anti-graft Authority Initiates 889 Criminal And Disciplinary Cases

An official source at Saudi Arabia's Control and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced that the authority has recently launched 889 criminal and disciplinary cases.

The source listed some of the prominent ones out of the total 889 cases which are the following:

1. In this case, 13 employees, 4 businessmen, and 5 residents were arrested. They are were accused of bribery and abuse of influence and a huge sum of money amounting to SR193,639,535 stashed in several places was found.

2. Two residents were arrested for receiving SR4 million in exchange for awarding a transport project and another belonging to one of the ministries worth SR680,000,000.

3. A retired non-commissioned officer who embezzled SR1,844,850 was arrested. He was caught in one of the criminal cases.

4. Three residents were arrested while handing over SR850,000 to a customs officer in exchange for bringing in a shipment of prohibited materials through one of the border crossings.

5. Four officers in the Ministry of Defense and 5 people were arrested for falsifying official documents to prove the completion of one of the projects, which resulted in full disbursement for the company and granting the responsible officer an amount of SR240,000 to buy a car.

6. The arrest of a former director of a branch of the Ministry of Justice in one of the provinces for paying SR500,000 to the director of the expropriation department in the same province's municipality in exchange for finalizing a financial compensation of SR17,300,000 for him in an illegal manner.

7. The arrest of an employee in the Ministry of Transport (marine inspector) for colluding with the owner of an enterprise by approving the activity of his business in the ministry in exchange for obtaining 50 percent of their profit, which amounted to SR300,000.

8. The arrest of a former employee in a municipality of one of the towns in the Eastern province for awarding a number of projects for his own companies and that which he has relations with their owners, and it resulted in contracts of SR13,935,000.

9. The arrest of two noncommissioned officers and two female employees who work in the traffic department of one of the regions for exploiting the public office and bribery by issuing forged international driver licenses for a number of female citizens and helping them in replacing them with Saudi ones. The number of those licenses reached 223 in exchange for an amount ranging from SR1,500-SR3,000 for each.

10. The arrest of an employee in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in one of the regions red-handed while asking for sums of money in exchange for transferring the sponsorship of an expatriate illegally.

11. The arrest of an Asian national who works in the Health Affairs Department in one of the ministries for selling medical appliances to a company for an amount of SR57,540.

12. The arrest of an employee in a municipality in one of the regions for requesting SR50,000 from a female citizen in exchange for submitting official documents in an illegal manner.

13. In cooperation with the Saudi Customs 1 citizen and 2 residents were caught red-handed for paying SR100,000 to a customs supervisor to facilitate the entry of a fabric shipment having prohibited matters.

The source said that the anti-graft authority will continue to 

pursue anyone who exploits the public office to achieve personal gain or harm the public interest in any way possible and that it is continuing to hold the negligent parties accountable and apply what the law rules against them with no tolerance.

The authority also appreciates the efforts of government entities in fighting financial and administrative corruption and the development of policies and procedures that promote speedy achievements which shut any inlets for corruption.

It commends the cooperation of those entities and the media on their effort in promoting integrity, transparency, and fighting corruption, and it would like as well to thank the citizens and residents for reporting to it through its available channels, including the toll-free number 980 for any practices involving financial or administrative corruption that would undermine the efforts of the government to support and promote the path of comprehensive development in light of Vision 2030.

It also extended its thanks and appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for the unlimited support to the authority in order to exercise its jurisdiction and perform its tasks in fighting financial and administrative corruption in all its forms and manifestations. ​

saudi gazette