down on corruption, Court of Grievances in Madina found eight health officials and 13 businessmen guilty of corruption and bribery on Saturday. The court handed down jail terms between one and five years and fines between SR3,000 and SR10,000 to the 22 offenders. One Jordanian pharmacy owner, however, was acquitted of the charges. The list of charges against the eight officials from the Madina Health Department included taking bribe money in return for illegal assistance to issue new pharmacy licenses or to relocate business operations, or to transfer ownership to other investors. The officials were also charged with deliberate misinterpretation of the health regulations to blackmail the businessmen who gave in without resorting to higher authorities. As public employees, they were found guilty of accepting hard cash, free house rents, free hotel parties, and office furnishings, from the 13 businessmen in exchange of public services. And one of them accepted a published condolences page for his mother in a local paper free of charge. That page alone could cost as much as SR50,000, according to current conservative advertisement rates in local newspapers. The eight officials found guilty held different job titles in the Madina Health Department including director of medical permits, director of health affairs, director of administrative and financial affairs, two employees at the medical permits department, a primary health care employee, a public relations manager, and a retired high-level health official who used his experience and connections to facilitate illegal assistance. When the 13 businessmen, who were identified as Saudis, Egyptians, Yemenis, and Pakistanis, failed to pay part of the bribery, the case spilled over to authorities which started immediate investigations. During the trial, the businessmen said they would have faced deliberate hurdles to finish their paperwork had they not paid the officials. – Okaz/SG __
