Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Administrative Court in Jeddah will hold a session on Sunday during which it will hand down a final verdict regarding the case involving a prominent notary public in Jeddah. The notary public has been accused of taking SR150,000 from a businessman, who will also stand before the court Sunday, to issue an fake title deed to him and speed up the procedures of finalizing another title deed. The businessman paid the notary public a total of SR200,000 to expedite the process. He is also accused of accepting two pieces of land as a bribe from a defendant who is involved in the Jeddah flood case. The notary public, who held a senior position at Jeddah Notary Public Office, had retracted all confessions he had made, saying they were made under duress. However, the judge presiding over the case at the time, said the confessions were not made under duress as the notary public had appeared before an independent judge and confessed. The judge also said there weren't any signs or indications that he was forced into making the confessions. In the previous session, the notary public said he had been put in solitary confinement for 64 days and was not allowed to contact or see his family. He denied taking a bribe from the businessman and said he had bought both pieces of land legally. The businessman is facing charges of paying a bribe to the notary public to speed up the procedures of processing land deeds. In the previous session, the businessman maintained that his transactions were legal and rejected all bribery allegations.
