Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — An employee working for the notary public office in Makkah told Jeddah Administrative court on Sunday that he acted inappropriately when he tore part of an official transaction document when he saw his name mentioned on it because he feared being implicated in a land ownership scam in Makkah and Jeddah. He told judge Sheikh Saad Al-Malki that anger could cause a person to act inappropriately, which is what happened when he tore the paper. Another defendant told the court he did not know he was the named owner of a plot of land in Makkah that led to him being accused of involvement in the scam. He told the judge that he never went to the notary public office nor did he meet the notary public. He said he never transferred ownership of the land to his name or sold it. The defendants' testimonies came during a hearing held by the court into allegations that the notary public, a former judge, court clerk, businessman and several other government employees forged title deeds for plots of land in Makkah with an area exceeding 1.6 million sq. m. In previous hearings, the court clerk, who is accused with 12 others of forging title deeds for plots of land located on Jabal Khandamah, Ja'ranah, south Jeddah and Madrakah, retracted previous confessions made during investigations. He had earlier confessed that he divided a bribe equally between him and another court clerk working under him. In previous hearings, he defended himself against allegations that he issued directives over the telephone to expedite the issuance of title deeds mentioned in the case, despite being on annual leave. The transaction was almost complete and did not require his presence to hand the land over to its owner, he said. He denied all his previous confessions, which he said were extracted under duress. The notary public said he did not know who forged the title deeds. He said he thought they were genuine title deeds requiring transfer of ownership. However, he discovered later that they were forged and he immediately canceled his signature and informed the authorities, he said. He said during Sunday's session that a special committee formed in line with the orders of the Ministry of Justice had begun investigations into the case. The committee absolved him of any wrongdoing, but two other employees were implicated and suspended from work.
