JEDDAH — The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has taken over the assets of a Saudi con man who stole SR400 million from his victims by setting up a fake online company to receive investments, Al-Hayat reported. A source revealed the man took money from more than 6,000 people from several GCC countries. “He said his company invests in projects in Riyadh, Madinah, and Makkah including the Riyadh Metro project and other equipment renting companies,” said the source. RCCI began investigating the case a month ago after receiving numerous complaints. The source said: “The investors even signed contracts stipulating a monthly profit of SR4,000 for three years. “The first fake investment project the conman ran manufactured tanks for tankers. “He had investors from Riyadh, Madinah, Bahrain, and Kuwait investing.” The representative of a number of victims, Hamad Al-Subaie, said the investors were tricked into thinking they were investing in large national projects. He said: “The conman sourced the group of investors and whenever anyone wanted to join them he would have them pay SR75,000 as an investment in tank manufacturing when it really costs SR50,000. “The contract they signed ensured them with profit. “When they did not receive any profit they realized they had been robbed.” He added that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had called the man in several times but he would always ditch their appointments. “Finally, they called him one last time for investigation. Al-Subaie said: “Some of the investors had spent their life's money on these investments in an endeavor to provide a better lifestyle to themselves and their families. “Orphans and widows were afflicted by this injustice and although the con man's company was shut down, the authorities have not arrested him yet.” He demanded the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Interior arrest the man as he still has not returned his victims' money. “He would send the investors a message asking them to go to the company to get their money back. “They would show up but find no one there. “The investors filed a lawsuit with the Riyadh Court of Execution but the file was rejected because it dealt with commercial contracts that were out of the court's jurisdiction.”
