RIYADH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman issued on Thursday three royal decrees approving the organizational and structural procedures related to combating financial and administrative corruption. According to the decrees, the Control and Investigation Board and the Administrative Investigations Department (Mabahith) will be incorporated into the National Anti-Corruption Commission and changed its name to Control and Anti-Corruption Commission. The King also ordered relieving Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Hussain from his post as chairman of the Control and Investigation Board and appointing him as member of the Shoura Council. The royal orders stipulate that the president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission will discharge the powers of the president of the Control and Anti-Corruption Commission until the completion of all the necessary legal procedures for the creation of the commission and started its functioning. He will also exercise the powers of the head of Mabahith. He can authorize whomever he deems to exercise some of those powers entrusted to him. The King has also ordered the establishment of a criminal investigation and prosecution unit in the Control and Anti-Corruption Commission, and it will deal with the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases related to financial and administrative corruption. The new regulations also stipulate that the head of the Control and Anti-Corruption Commission has to coordinate with the Public Prosecutor so that the Public Prosecution continue investigating cases of financial and administrative corruption in some regions of the Kingdom that do not have branches of the Commission. For this, a specific mechanism shall be framed between the Public Prosecution and the Commission that includes an inventory of those cases and their follow-up by the Commission, and the specialized court in Riyadh city will have the spatial jurisdiction of all cases related to financial and administrative corruption. According to the decrees, the Control and Anti-Corruption Commission is bound to take the necessary measures against the crimes of financial and administrative corruption, as well as against its perpetrators and parties involved whether they are civilian or military employees of the state, or those who contracted with them or wanted in connection with the crimes. It was also stipulated that if an employee was convicted of any criminal offense related to financial and administrative corruption through the judgment of the specialized court, he shall be dismissed from his job. If the investigation with a government employee pointed to strong suspicions affecting the dignity and integrity of the job, the president of the Commission can propose termination of his service after taking the opinion of the head of the department where he is employed and this shall not have any effect on the completion of criminal proceedings against him. The royal decrees stated that if it was found that a government employee has disproportionate assets, then the burden of proof would be on him to verify that his money has been acquired by legitimate means. In the event of his inability to prove its legitimate source, the findings of the financial investigations shall be referred to the Commission's Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit, in order to carry out necessary investigations and take appropriate measures accordingly.
