Agents of the Makkah Passports Department arrested two Ethiopian sisters, Fateema and Mabroukah, Thursday who admitted to cheating Saudi women by selling them various overpriced skin whiteners and beauty products. Col. Ayidh Bin Teghaleeb Al-Luqmani, Director of Makkah Passports Department, said the two female overstayers were arrested in Makkah's Jarwal District. The sisters, both illegal overstayers, went to homes in Makkah and applied henna to women's hair and painted designs on their hands and feet. They distributed leaflets advertising their services at wedding halls, recreation parks, and commercial centers. Fateema, in her forties, said, “We entered Saudi Arabia on Umrah visas and after overstaying we hid on one of the mountains in the Jarwal District. Since we had worked with henna design in our own country, we started doing the same in Makkah getting housemaids to promote our services in return for 25% of whatever we earned. We used to charge SR100 for henna decoration on the feet and legs, and we became so well known that our telephone numbers were widely distributed.” “After doing this for several months, my sister and I decided to expand our business,” she said. “We used to hear Saudi women talk a lot about skin whitening creams, hair oils, and other beauty products. We bought oil from herbists and rebottled them with our names. We charged five to ten times the normal price for these products, and sometimes we used to earn SR2000 per day.” Fateema said she and her sister made nearly SR200,000 in the past two years. They sent the money back to Ethiopia where they bought two houses. – Okaz __
