RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce and Investment has defamed an Emirati citizen and two expatriates of Palestinian and Jordanian nationality who were convicted by the Criminal Court in Riyadh of commercial fraud. The court found that the Emirati investor had been enabling the two expats to practice unauthorized trading activity on their own accounts through a company having retail and wholesale dealerships of computers in Riyadh. The court imposed a fine of SR600,000 on the violators. It also ordered the closure of the facility, liquidation of the trading activity, and the deportation of the two expats from the Kingdom after blacklisting them. The court asked the ministry to publish the verdict in a local newspaper at the expense of the violators. The ministry acted after receiving a tip-off about a suspected case of commercial cover-up. From investigations and seized evidence, it became clear that the Emirati investor was covering up the two expats to run business in the field of computers and IT. The men managed the establishment while the Emirati stayed abroad. The three violators were referred to the Public Prosecution, which in turn took the case to the Criminal Court.
