Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A Saudi court sentenced one Saudi citizen and four expatriates to two years in prison each and a fine of SR350000 after convicting them of commercial cover-up. Another Saudi citizen was also convicted in the case. The court ordered confiscation of the proceeds of the concealment crime, amounting to more than SR293 million, and 26 vehicles.

The penalties for concealment also included the closure of establishments, the liquidation of their operations, the cancellation of licenses and commercial registrations, the collection of zakat, fees, and taxes, and the deportation of the expatriate convicts after serving their jail term and payment of fines, in addition to a ban on their return to the Kingdom for work.

The Qassim Court of Appeal upheld the verdict issued by a lower court after it was found that they were involved in cover-up crime in their businesses in the contracting, medical equipment, and tobacco sectors in the Qassim region. As per the court order, the Ministry of Commerce published the convicts' names and crimes in the local media at their own personal expense. The convicts include Saudis, Yemenis and Palestinians.

The court found that the citizens were involved in enabling four expatriates to conduct commercial activities on their own account without a foreign investment license. The expatriates were also found to have given free hand in running a company and four affiliated institutions. It was also detected that the volume of their financial transactions was disproportionate to their monthly income in their profession as sales representatives. They also transferred funds, collected through their illegal activities, to outside the Kingdom.

It is noteworthy that the Anti-Cover-Up Law stipulates the imposition of penalties of imprisonment for a period of up to five years, a fine of up to SR5 million, and the seizure and confiscation of illicit funds after the issuance of final judicial rulings against those involved in the crime.