RIYADH — The Saudi courts awarded jail terms totaling 206 years to 28 people, who were convicted of money laundering through illegal transfer of money, amounting to SR1.5 billion, to outside the Kingdom. The court also slapped fines on the convicts and ordered the confiscation of the money seized from them. The convicts were among 32 persons, including nine citizens and 23 expatriates of different nationalities, who were arrested by the security authorities during the first quarter of 2021. The court proceedings are under way against the remaining number of the accused after the Public Prosecution started legal procedures against them. According to the data disclosed by the Public Prosecution and Public Security, the funds that the defendants were involved in smuggling and the funds that were confiscated before they were smuggled out of the Kingdom have exceeded SR1.5 billion, in addition to 19 kilograms of gold seized from the possession of one of the gangs whose members were arrested. The defendants were found guilty of charges such as smuggling money out of the Kingdom; creating commercial records for fictitious entities and opening bank accounts in their names for illegally transferring money outside the Kingdom and misusing bank accounts of existing establishments, owned by citizens, in transferring large sums of money abroad. It is noteworthy that the Public Prosecution, Public Security and other relevant authorities in the Kingdom are working to combat money laundering crimes as well as to bust illegal money transfer gangs, within the framework of an integrated system that works closely to protect the Kingdom's economy and combat corruption and crimes in all their forms.
