The General Court in Riyadh recently sentenced two judges and a businessman to a total of 15 years in prison and SR15 million in fines. The suspects were accused of being involved in forging stamps and signatures of officials and of two deceased judges - Muhammad Bin Muslem Al-Otahimeen and Ruahsid Bin Muhammad Al-Qaisi – of the General Court in Al-Bada' governorate. They were also accused of issuing forged title deeds for vacant state land on the coast in Sharma. Three judges, on a board formed by the higher authorities to try the suspects, said stiffer discretionary punishments were decided because the suspects were involved in smuggling forged stamps into the Kingdom; and that the two judges had moved official documents from the court to private places, including a farm, a hotel and an apartment over the course of a year-and-a-half. One of the suspects was charged with impersonating a Royal Court official. He used a bogus name, Abu Sa'ad, to convince businessmen he could issue land grants for them with legal title deeds. The court's verdict was based on several testimonies including one of a driver who worked at Al-Bada' court and who was involved by playing the role of a bogus land owner. The driver confessed to the illegal sales and ownership transfers, receiving the money and depositing it in the businessman's bank account. The businessman played the role of a real estate broker. The driver, in a statement, said the scam worked with one judge issuing title deeds in the names of bogus persons. The other judge's task was to bring buyers from Riyadh and Jeddah. After this the driver, who pretended to be a landowner, would negotiate the price through the businessman, who acted as the middleman. The buyers would write a check which the driver would cash and deposit in the businessman's account. Most ownership transfers were done at a hotel in Tabuk and at a farm of one of the judges. The driver said he received amounts totaling SR60,000 on separate occasions from the three men. The two judges received amounts totaling about SR44 million from the sale of 20 title deeds and official ownership documents. The sales totaled more than SR77 million. The suspects were able to return SR66 million private right amounts to the buyers. The sentences are in regard to the public right and the suspects have 30 days to file an appeal. The court described the two judges' actions as treason and corruption and recommended they be not pardoned. __
