3 citizens and expatriate arrested for money laundering involving SR200 million

Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — Three Saudi citizens and an expatriate were arrested after they were found involved in commercial concealment and money laundering amounting to SR200 million.

The Public Prosecution said that the arrested persons were referred to a competent Saudi court and that it demanded the court to award the accused persons maximum penalty prescribed in the law. This follows the completion of investigations against them by the Economic Crimes wing under the Public Prosecution.

It was revealed in investigations that a female citizen started a commercial entity to collect debts and handed it over to her husband, who in turn enabled the expatriate to manage the entity and its bank accounts, while another citizen also carried out the same criminal method. This enabled the expatriate to exploit these bank accounts with cash deposits amounting to more than SR200 million, in exchange for external transfers without making any customs imports.

Upon verification of the funds, it was found that these were the result of crimes and violations of a number of regulations. Hundreds of financial transfer vouchers were also detected. It was revealed that the receipt and delivery documents were fictitious and unreal even though the justification for the transfer was the purchase of goods from one of the exporting countries.

The Public Prosecution stressed the prohibition of sinful behavior that would harm the national economy, and that anyone who dares to violate this will be subject to strict criminal accountability.