RIYADH — The Dammam Criminal Court ruled penalties, including a fine amounting to SR200,000, to a Saudi citizen and an Egyptian resident after their conviction in cover-up (tasattur) case. The convicts were found guilty in their cover-up in water desalination business in the Qatif governorate in the Eastern Province. The punitive measures, ruled by the court, include cancellation of the commercial registration and license, liquidation of the establishment's activities, collection of zakat, fees, and taxes, prohibition from engaging in the concerned commercial activity and deportation of the Egyptian national and a ban to his return to Saudi Arabia. Following the court verdict, the Ministry of Commerce published the convicts name in the local media at their own expense. The court found the citizen's involvement in concealing the Egyptian's illegal cover-up activity. The citizen received 40 percent of the profits from the water distribution tankers, thus enabling the resident to carry out business on his own account without obtaining a foreign investment license. It is worthy to note that the Anti-Cover-Up Law stipulates penalties of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to SR5 million, and the seizure and confiscation of illicit funds, following the issuance of final court rulings against those involved in such illegal commercial activities.
