JEDDAH: The Auditing and Investigation Bureau has referred a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce to the Board of Grievances in Riyadh to stand trial for forgery and misuse of power, in a case involving the defrauding of 1,500 real estate investors. The official at the Ministry of Commerce had allegedly illegally approved the development of a 1.1 million square meter undeveloped piece of land in Makkah. An application to develop the land had been made by a Makkah property developer. The land, however, belongs to a Makkah businessman, who has a legal title deed, according to the Notary Public in Makkah. The ministry official had allegedly issued a document enabling the property developer to buy 20 percent of the plot and float the rest to the public. A total of 40,000 shares were made available at a cost of SR9,900 per share. When approval was given for the development, a total of 1,500 people invested their life savings in the project. According to the case documents, the fraud was uncovered when the Internal Commercial Administration at the Ministry of Commerce sought information on the land from the Notary Public in Makkah. The Notary Public revealed that the title deed held by the businessman was legal. Following this, the administration had sought clarification about the status of the plot from the Urban Planning Department at the Makkah Mayoralty. The mayoralty also confirmed that the plot belongs to the businessman. The mayoralty also confirmed that the property developer, who had applied for ministry permission to develop the land, had no right to do so. The plaintiff argued in his lawsuit that the permission granted by the ministry was null and void on the grounds that he owns the plot and has a legal title deed; and that the responsible official at the ministry has violated the law.
