Saudi Arabia convicts 11 people for laundering SAR10bn

A gang of 11 members, including two Saudi nationals and nine expatriates, were convicted in a SAR10bn money laundering case in the kingdom.

An official source at the Public Prosecution confirmed that the 11 individuals were involved in violations related to the concealment of the funds using several commercial entities and their branches to receive and transfer money from unknown sources from their bank totaling of SAR10bn.

The source added that Public Prosecution investigation filed a suit against the perpetrators and the initial verdict was issued by the specialized court in the kingdom. It meted out imprisonment terms of a total of 52 years and fines of SAR62.5m, while confiscating money and assets from investment portfolios that were seized worth SAR1,672,862.

It also instructed the deportation of the foreign residents from Saudi Arabia after they completed their jail terms, while banning the convicted citizens from travelling for periods similar to their sentences.

The source noted that the Public Prosecution has initiated procedures to objecting the conviction terms, urging the judicial authorities to stiffen the sentences of the individuals taking into account in realisation of the public interest to protect the local economy and deter all those who plan to interfere with the financial security of banking transactions.

There has been a continuing crackdown on corruption within the kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) said that it has arrested 172 individuals in the kingdom between October 7-November 5, 2021. it had conducted 6,061 oversight rounds in the course of that period and had investigated 512 people suspected of administrative and financial corruption. The individuals included employees from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Saudi National Guard, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and the Education and Training Evaluation Commission.

Read: Saudi’s Nazaha arrests 172 individuals in latest corruption crackdown