Saudi Arabia arrests suspect for SR493 million banking fraud, pursuing charges
According to a Nazaha source, the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, Nazaha, lately started criminal investigations into various Saudi nationals and expats linked in corruption instances, with legal procedures under active progress.
Under cooperation with the Saudi Central Bank and the Presidency of State Security, Saudi citizen Khaled Ibrahim Al-Jariwi was arrested in the first instance on allegations of planning a bank fraud operation worth SR493 million. Al-Jariwi allegedly used faked real estate deeds and fake government contracts to secure finance while working with a bank employee, therefore abusing financial institutions. Believing the paperwork to be authentic, the bank staff accepted the financing. Al-Jariwi bought houses under relatives' names and moved SR100 million overseas to hide the financial trail once he had the money.
Employees of the General Directorate of Passports, including Abdullah Masoud Al-Anzi, Nawaf Jakhideb Al-Harbi, and Abdulrahman Matar Al-Shammari, who purportedly helped Al-Jariwi illegally enter and leave Saudi Arabia in exchange for bribes, also participated in the fraud. Every person engaged confessed the charges and are now under custody awaiting trial.
Two Yemeni citizens, Abdulmalik Ahmed Qaed and Abdullah Abdo Qasim, as well as Saudi citizen Mohammed Ghazi Mohammed Al-Sayed were arrested in another case. The three were caught in Riyadh trading SR1,499,000 to sneak a container of tobacco through Jeddah Islamic Port, therefore avoiding customs fees of SR7.2 million by mislabelling the cargo as paper tissues. Authorities followed the cargo to a Jeddah warehouse where illegal tobacco was found in great quantities. Under direction of Qaed, this operation was meant to supply Eastern Province and Riyadh. Following inspections and documentation of the items, pertinent authorities—including the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority—closed the warehouse; meanwhile, the investigation is under way for additional legal actions.
In another case, Othman Muhammad Naeem Abdul Rahman, a Sudanese national, was detained transporting a vehicle and SR20,000 in an arrangement to smuggle a four-ton tobacco consignment from Sudan into Saudi Arabia via Jeddah Islamic Port. Dubbed as animal feed, the cargo sought to avoid customs taxes of SR1,075,200. While they get ready to bring Abdul Rahman before court, Nazaha is still investigating the matter.
Another corruption case has also been linked to government employee Khalaf Saleh Marzouq Al-Khideli of the Al-Jouf Region Secretariat and Yemeni national Muhammad Ali Omar Al-Saqqaf. Though these projects are not finished, Al-Khalidi allegedly collected SR8 million from Al-Saqqaf in exchange for processing road repair project payments totalling over SR17.5 million. Legal action is under ready preparation against both people.
Nazaha is still alert in its dedication to stop public fund abuse and assign offenders responsibility. A Nazaha official underlined that the authority is relentless in its search of justice and cautioned that any attempts to make use of public resources or abuse official positions for personal benefit will be greeted with strong legal consequences.