The General Court in Jeddah on Tuesday handed down nine more sentences in the infamous Sawa (pre-paid phone cards) scam case involving millions of riyals. Five of the defendants were sentenced to six years and nine months in prison along with 60 lashes. One of the accused was ordered to repay SR72 million he had obtained fraudulently, while another – named as Abdul Aziz Al-Jihani – was ordered to repay investors SR231 million. K. Al-Harbi was given two years in jail and ordered to return SR5 million, and Saeed S. was sentenced to one year imprisonment and ordered to repay SR59 million to subscribers. Earlier this month six people were sentenced to 30 years in prison for their involvement in the pre-paid phone card scam. Al-Jihani and his accomplices allegedly cheated about 30 investors of SR1.3 billion three years ago. During his trial, he had promised to return SR800 million to the investors. He said other promoters of the fake project appropriated the remaining amount.
