JEDDAH – An Egyptian carpenter, accused last November of violating tasattur regulations was acquitted of the charges on Wednesday. Tasattur is business run solely by foreigners who then pay a nominal monthly fee to the registered Saudi owner. The carpenter was accused of running a factory in his sponsor's name in return for a share in profits. The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution accused the carpenter of running a SR4 million bank account that he set up only four years ago when he entered the Kingdom. The Bureau, while following the money trail, became suspicious when it found that the carpenter was responsible for managing the entire business owned by a Saudi. In addition, the Saudi owner, previously arraigned before the court, was accused by the Bureau of covering up for the Egyptian carpenter. After deliberations that took six hearings and a close review of documentary evidence, the court decided Wednesday to acquit the carpenter and his Saudi sponsor of the above charges. The sponsor told the court that the bank account operated by the carpenter was the factory's account and he allowed the carpenter to run the whole show because he trusted him. He also said that he regularly visited the factory and managed the business himself earlier. But after falling ill, he entrusted the running of the business to the Egyptian carpenter. The carpenter told the court that he did manage the day-to-day operation of the factory but kept his sponsor in the know of the operation. He added the sponsor authorized him to manage the show because the latter fell ill and could not attend to work regularly. The carpenter also said that he worked for a monthly salary of SR3,500 and always kept the owner in the loop about daily decisions and accounts. The sponsor gave him his okay to settle invoices, make bank transfers from the same account, and pay monthly salaries. “I was acting on my sponsor's instructions. Any money transferred from this bank account in my name was done based on receipts that my sponsor knew about.”
