Saudi arrests three people for posing as officials and ‘bribing’ journalists with perfumes

Police in the Saudi capital Riyadh have arrested three people for posing as government officials and attempting to bribe journalists with perfumes, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

A police spokesperson said that they investigated a video clip circulating on social media which showed a GCC woman journalist who was visiting Saudi receiving a gift of “valuable perfumes” apparently sent by official departments.

On conducting the verification procedures, officials found that three people were involved in the scam.

The three men, identified as Saudi national Abdullah Saleh Hammad Al-Mutairi, Lebanese national Nather Nabieh Hani and Indian national Mateen Ahmed, were arrested on Monday.

#شرطة_الرياض تلقي القبض على مواطن ومقيمين قدما هدايا لإعلامية خليجية بوصفها من جهات رسمية.https://t.co/wb4nKdw8LT#واس pic.twitter.com/4hhPXrvz7w

— واس (@spagov) September 10, 2018

During the inspection, several boxes of cheap perfumes similar to those that appeared in the video were found, SPA reported

The “defendants sought to inform the journalists that the gifts were from official sources, hoping to exploit this for their personal reasons”, the report added.

Officials are undertaking a thorough investigation into the incident and have notified the public prosecution branch in the Riyadh region.