RIYADH – The Ministry of Commerce and Investment has named and shamed a Saudi citizen and an Indian national for their involvement in commercial cover-up (Tasattur). This is in compliance with an order from the Criminal Court in Dammam, a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said. As per the details, the Saudi citizen enabled the expatriate to carry out commercial activity in sanitary ware and electrical goods in Al-Ahsa governorate in return of SR900 per month. Meanwhile, the expatriate managed the firm, purchased and sold goods, and deposited and collected the revenues accrued from the commercial activity, whose financial transactions reached SR1.7 million. The ministry published a summary of the verdict issued by the Criminal Court in Dammam imposing a fine of SR100,000 on each of the violators, closing down the firm, liquidating its activity, cancelling the firm's license and commercial register; collecting the due Zakat, fees and taxes; forbidding the Saudi citizen from providing cover-up and practicing the same activity and banning him from travel for one year. It also entailed deportation from the Kingdom of the expatriate, banning him from returning to the Kingdom to work, and naming and shaming the two violators by publishing the court verdict in two local newspapers at the violators' expense. The Ministry of Commerce and Investment called on the citizens and expatriates in general in all regions of the Kingdom to report any case of Tasattur (commercial cover-up) to the ministry by dialing 1900, via a "commercial report", or through the ministry's website. In this regard, the ministry promised reporting persons a financial reward reaching 30 percent of the total fines imposed according to the court verdict and collected. It reaches SR1 million per violator. It is to be noted that a royal approval was issued recently to carry out the recommendations of the National Program for Combating Commercial Cover-up (Tasattur). Ten government authorities are participating in implementing and carrying out the program, with the objective of developing the anti-Tasattur regulations and legislations, catalyzing e-commerce and using technological solutions, and organizing financial transactions so as to put a limit to money leaving the Kingdom.
