News

Saudi Arabia Uncovers Massive Fraud worth SR11.5 Billion

Richard M. JANUARY 29, 2021 1 minute read

Law enforcement authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested at least 32 suspects including businessmen, bank officials, and citizens. A huge corruption scheme was uncovered worth 11.5 billion riyals.

The Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) investigated the suspected corporation with the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia to discover that some banks’ employees were in cahoot with the organized crime group in the country. The criminal group consists of the citizens and businessmen who deposited small sums of cash from different sources and then transferred the cash out of the country.

The two authorities examined the bank accounts and discovered that 11.5 billion riyals were taken out of the country. The authorities arrested 7 business officials and 12 employees of the bank and some non-commissioned officers involved in the scandal. Five Saudi nationals and 2 expats have been arrested as well under the charge of the bribery, illicit financial gains, money laundering, and commercial fraud.

One of the businessmen arrested was involved in setting up a number of fake companies under his name or his family members’ names. He was responsible for opening up several bank accounts. The accounts were used to deposit cash in small sums from hidden sources and then transfer the funds overseas. The bank employees purposely neglected the operations in exchange for money and gifts.

The businessmen also paid up to 300,000 riyals to a police officer in exchange for stalling the case of suspicious financial dealings. Four million were paid to the mediators to stall the case of suspicious financial dealing with the public prosecution. Some other businessmen opened up shell companies to deposit their illicit funds in the bank. The bank officials opened the bank accounts of these shell companies enabling the money laundering operations.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on this webpage or weblink are those of the author only, and are not necessarily the views or opinions of Shufti Pro Limited. The material and information on this weblink is solely for general information purposes. You should not rely upon the material or information on the website as a basis for making any business or legal decision.

While we endeavor to keep the information up-to-date and/or correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, or for any purpose about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of the contents or information herein. Any reliance on its content is thus entirely at your own risk.

For the avoidance of doubt, Shufti Pro Limited will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate, or incomplete information presented herein, and all liabilities with respect to actions taken, or not taken, based on the contents or information herein, or for any loss sustained by you as a consequence are hereby expressly disclaimed by us.

Share you link