The Commission for Investigation and Prosecution is set to begin on Saturday its probe into an official from the Civil Status Administration in Jeddah who allegedly colluded with a bereaved parent to forge a death certificate in order to claim flood victim compensation money. Sources have said that the official suffered from “psychiatric problems” and has had a file with Jeddah's Hospital for Mental Health for three years that cites “schizophrenia”. The arrested official is also reported to have on a previous occasion attacked the head of his department with a stick. According to the sources, the moving of the Birth and Death Certificates Office from the Civil Status Administration to a new building resulted in staff being spread too thinly over the two offices, resulting in the official in question being assigned to his post at the Certificates Office on order of seniority. The official's arrest, reported in Saudi Gazette on Thursday, was prompted by a confession from the member of the public - whose daughter passed away two years ago - who colluded with the official to produce the fake death certificate claiming she died during the recent floods. The truth was revealed by the father himself “on pain of conscience” after he saw his daughter in a dream saying “Don't do it, Daddy!” The official reportedly struck a deal with the man, a Saudi national, to be paid SR200,000 once the latter obtained victim compensation. The father told investigators that at the time of his daughter's death he obtained a death report from the hospital but failed to complete procedures with the Birth and Death Certificates Office. After the floods, he saw the opportunity to collect a death certificate with the help of a willing official and register her name on the list of victims.
