Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A specialized Saudi court awarded a total of 28 years of imprisonment and fines amounting to SR13 million to a number of people involved in illegal cover up (tasattur) offenses.

Those convicted include one Saudi man and a Saudi woman and a number of foreign workers.

An official source at the Public Prosecution said that the charges against the two Saudi citizens included opening commercial registration and banking accounts and allowing them to be misused by foreign workers in return for payment of a fixed amount of money on a monthly basis.

It was found that the foreigners misused the commercial registration for making illegal investments in the commercial entity and depositing money in the bank account before transferring the money illegally outside the Kingdom.

The court ordered confiscation of SR685 million that was transferred to outside the Kingdom in an illegal manner. It also ordered deportation of the expatriates after serving the jail term and making payment of fines.

The verdict was announced after the Investigation Department for Economic Offenses at the Public Prosecution launched an investigation against the accused and filed charges against them.

The Department for International Cooperation at the Public Prosecution has started measures to retrieve the money transferred outside the Kingdom, the source added.