Saudi: Anti-corruption Body Targets High-ranking Officials In Landmark Multi-million Riyal Cases
In a sweeping crackdown on corruption, the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) has announced a series of arrests across various sectors on Wednesday.
A former head of notary and his brother were arrested for misappropriating vast tracts of state-owned land, illegally profiting SR148 million from their sale.
This case also involved a former judge and two employees who received SR10.25 million and SR5 million respectively for their roles in the scheme.
In another major case, a former municipal employee was apprehended for accepting SR63 million from commercial entities in exchange for issuing 299 unauthorized supply orders, involving transactions exceeding SR171 million.
This is part of a broader pattern of bribery and corruption uncovered in the operation.
The head of a notary in another region was arrested for using forged documents to seize and sell three land plots, totaling SR1.2 million.
Meanwhile, an employee in the emirate of a different region exploited a commercial entity to irregularly award 16 projects, personally profiting over SR2.65 million.
The operation also brought to light embezzlement within the General Directorate of Prisons, where a major and an employee were implicated in misappropriating SR2.89 million from the inmates’ and sustenance fund.
In a case involving law enforcement, a police station employee was arrested for stealing SR1.93 million from the station’s safe, and a citizen was apprehended for attempting to bribe a security officer with SR100,000 to secure the release of a detained resident.
The Ministry of Defense also saw corruption within its ranks, with a non-commissioned officer caught receiving SR57,000 in a fuel sale fraud and a colonel arrested for related offenses.
In the health care sector, a veterinarian employed by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture manipulated tender processes for personal gain, involving a pharmacy bid for medical supplies.
The traffic department faced its scandal, with an employee charged with illegally transferring and selling a vehicle for SR165,000, while an employee at a university was arrested for stealing and selling computers from an engineering lab.
Additional arrests include residents caught in various acts of bribery and corruption, such as offering money for unauthorized services, including Internet connections and facilitating the illegal exit of goods from a university warehouse.
These cases involve amounts ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of riyals.
The head of the Environmental Health Department in a municipal office was arrested for irregular licensing practices, further underscoring the widespread nature of the corruption addressed in this campaign.
The spokesperson emphasized that the authority remains vigilant in its efforts to root out corruption, asserting that financial and administrative corruption crimes will be rigorously pursued and prosecuted without leniency.
