A former assistant president of a Notary Public Office has been sentenced to five years in jail and fined SR200,000 for tampering with the title deed for Thuwal land, the Administrative Appeals Court in Riyadh ruled recently. The court also sentenced a businessman to four years in prison with a fine of SR200,000 and a Habona Governorate employee to two years in prison with a fine of SR5,000. A judge and other two notaries public were acquitted in the case. “The verdicts issued are final, irrevocable and must be implemented. The Court has notified the concerned authorities about the verdicts issued in the case in preparation to carry out the penalties against the accused,” a source said. Khalid Al-Mehmadi, legal advisor, said the verdicts will be implemented by the police. However, if the accused are being detained in the same region where the verdict of the Appeals Court was issued, then the verdict will be implemented there itself. The Thuwal title deed case revolved around 2.57 million sq.m. of land in Thuwal, north of Jeddah Governorate. The land was illegally divided among several people for a total of SR600 million, so as to receive state compensation worth SR1.2 billion after expropriation of the land for a vital project. Earlier verdicts issued by the Third Penal Circuit in Riyadh had acquitted some suspects and incriminated others.
