Saudi Gazette report

Jeddah — Inspection teams from the Ministry of Commerce seized 1,196 counterfeit smartphones and more than 322,000 counterfeit products, including headphones, chargers, stickers, and other items from an establishment based in Jeddah. The security authorities have arrested three expatriates, including two Asians and one Arab national, for engaging in commercial fraud, in addition to shutting down the firm.

An investigation into counterfeit phones seized by the ministry officials in Riyadh led to tracing their sources in Jeddah. The inspection raid was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, and the Jeddah police.

It was detected in inspections that the expatriates were involved in converting Chinese smartphones that had entered the local market legally into phones bearing the logos of two well-known brands by reprogramming them and adding the brand stickers, with the intention of reselling them.

The Ministry of Commerce is cracking down on violators of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, which involves deception and fraud against consumers. The law stipulates penalties of up to three years imprisonment, fines of up to SR1 million, or both, in addition to publicizing the violations and deporting offending workers.