Authorities are investigating claims that two notaries public were involved in forging documents to fraudulently add 47 million square meters to a piece of property in Al-Thaba District to make it a total 85 million square meters. According to the verified records now in possession of investigators the property is only 38 million square meters. Sources said that two notaries public have admitted to producing a number of fake sale agreements so that they could increase the size of the land in South Jeddah. The testimonies have been registered in preparation for their trial. The sources said Dr. Saleh Bin Humaid, Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council, instructed the Court of Cassation in Makkah to refer the case to the responsible court. The Ministry of Justice earlier last month accepted the resignation of four notaries, including a former chief of the notary office in Jeddah. The quartet was under orders to transfer to other offices or lower courts. Instead of accepting their new posts, they requested early retirement and then resigned when the ministry rejected their applications. Their transfer orders coincided with the ongoing investigations of the committee set up following the Nov. 25 floods in Jeddah. However, no criminal charges were brought against the four notaries. “The ministry rejected their requests for early retirement because of two reasons. Firstly, their lack of long service that would normally entitle them to early retirement. The second reason was that if they retired from their new posts, it would be of lesser financial benefit to them than if they resigned,” according to one source. The source added that their resignations were accepted because they did not take up their new jobs even after their superiors asked them to do so. Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Issa said the notaries were not forced to resign and denied the resignations had anything to do with the flood probe.
