RIYADH — The Saudi Control and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced on Monday the arrest of several security officers, government employees, and expatriates who were accused of corruption charges. The authority is working to complete the legal procedures before referring their cases to courts to prosecute them, it said in a statement. Those arrested included a criminal court employee and a lawyer. They were caught red-handed while accepting a sum of SR1.5 million in exchange for ratifying an acquittal ruling for a citizen in a pending case. Two citizens were caught red-handed at the moment they received SR1million in terms of the share of their brother, who is the judge examining the case in the same court. The judge was also arrested. A businessman was arrested for obtaining bank financing worth more than SR100 million by submitting fictitious project contracts with the help of an employee of the financing bank in exchange for sums of money. The Nazaha statement said that director of the support services department in one of the emirates was arrested for obtaining SR12 million from a commercial entity belonging to one of his acquaintances in exchange for awarding projects in an illegal manner. The owner of a law firm was caught red-handed when receiving SR180000 from the owner of a commercial entity. He has a pending commercial case for SR11 million in exchange for issuing a report in his favor from a law firm and legal consulting company that was appointed as an expert by the judge overseeing the case. A citizen was also arrested at the moment he received SR170000 from the lawyer. The money represents the share of the owner of the law firm in exchange for issuing the report. The statement revealed that an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, who works as head of the Civil Defense Direct Purchase Committee, was arrested for accepting SR509000 from an expatriate, who works for a commercial entity, in exchange for issuing certificates directly to the entity and facilitating the procedures for disbursing financial dues. The expatriate was also detained. Another expatriate, who works as a doctor in a government hospital, was arrested for trying to smuggle a quantity of medicines that are given free of charge to patients and are not intended for sale. An employee, who was working at the Health Affairs Department, was arrested after accepting SR71000 from two expatriate male and female doctors in exchange for amending their medical classification in a way that did not match their qualifications. The Nazaha report said that an officer with the rank of colonel, who works as director of the Operations and Maintenance Department at the Ministry of Defense, was arrested for accepting SR920000 as the value of a land registered in his name from a businessman in exchange for completing the procedures for disbursing money for a project worth SR5260500. Three non-commissioned officers in Public Security were arrested for stealing SR877522 from safety deposit boxes at the police stations where they work. The statement noted that an expatriate was arrested while offering a sum of money to an employee at the Customs Authority in exchange for keeping with him an amount of SR267500 at the time of departure from the Kingdom. A cashier at a government hospital was arrested for stealing cash amounting to SR117571 from the safety deposit box. An expatriate who works for a commercial entity contracting with the Ministry of Defense was caught red-handed when he was handed over SR7,000 out of SR82,000 agreed upon in exchange for overlooking violations in implementing the contract worth SR10 million. A municipal employee and an expatriate broker working in an engineering consulting office were also caught red-handed when they received SR30000 out of the agreed upon SR60000 in exchange for obtaining four building permits in an illegal manner. Another municipal employee was arrested while receiving SR7000 in exchange for reopening an illegal commercial store after it was closed. An expatriate who violated the residency law was caught red-handed while paying SR50000 in exchange for obtaining an expatriate's ID (iqama) in an illegal manner. An employee at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development was arrested for requesting SR1500 from the owner of a public services office in exchange for reducing a fine imposed on a commercial entity from SR25000 to SR10000 in an illegal way. The Nazaha statement said that an expatriate was caught red-handed when he handed over SR2000 out of SR10000 to a security man in exchange for the release of three residents detained pending a criminal case. Two security men working at the Passport Department were arrested at a land port for receiving a sum of money from an expatriate in exchange for carrying out fake entry and exit operations for his wife.
