The Administrative Court of the Bureau of Grievances will hand down verdicts in four Jeddah flood cases on Wednesday. The persons involved in these cases, some of whom held high positions in government agencies, appeared before the same court in previous sessions and were charged with bribery, abuse of power and forgery of official documents. Of the four cases, the Administrative Court will look into the infamous case involving six individuals, some of whom were senior officials and businessmen while others were ex-presidents of sports clubs. They are all accused of bribery and procurement of official aerial photographs of certain locations for personal reasons. Saad Al-Malki, the presiding judge, held a session last week and adjourned it until Wednesday to issue the final verdicts. During the previous session, one of the six individuals claimed he was the representative of a corporate body and was merely acting on official orders. He paid SR60 million to an engineering consultation office, run by the third accused, to find a piece of land and finalize all surveying and technical documents. He told the judge that he had never gone to Jeddah Mayoralty to follow up the case. However, the judge refuted his statements by presenting documents showing the accused had in fact followed up the case at the mayoralty. The accused said he had gone to the mayoralty but not to enquire about the case. Following this statement, the judge decided to adjourn the session. Moreover, nine individuals, some of whom have been suspended from their positions at the mayoralty, will appear before the court on Wednesday. Charges leveled against them include taking and giving kickbacks and abuse of power. In another case also related to the Jeddah floods, four individuals will appear on Wednesday before the court on charges ranging from embezzlement to tampering with official invoices. One of the accused used to work for the dengue fever department and has been suspended following the trial. __
