Saudi authorities arrest 22, seize SR600 million in KSA’s ‘largest case of corruption’
Crime investigators from the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) apprehended 13 government employees from the municipality of Riyadh region, four businessmen, and five expats working for contracting companies over serious fraud allegations.
During searches of residences of the accused, officials found more than SR193 million in cash stashed away in make-shift ceilings, a service room in a mosque, a water tank, and an underground safe.
Also uncovered was an inventory of real estate purchases made by the arrested people using illegal funds, totaling almost SR142 million.
In addition, Nazaha seized almost SR150 million from the arrestees’ bank accounts, and following further investigation one of the accused was found to have used his position to disburse more than SR110 million through the Ministry of Finance’s Etimad unified digital services platform for commercial entities.
Other corrupt dealings were linked to SR2.5 million worth of grocery prepaid cards, nearly SR150,000 of fuel prepaid cards, and more than SR4.1 million in foreign currencies.
The 22 arrests were among 889 cases of corruption and discipline matters recently handled by Nazaha.
