RIYADH — A number of citizens and residents people, including some former government officials, have been convicted and handed prison terms for their involvement in corruption cases, an official source at the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) said on Monday. The anti-corruption authority has also initiated a number of fresh criminal cases involving fraud, bribery, and embezzlement of public funds, the source added. According to the source, a criminal court in Riyadh recently issued preliminary rulings in a number of cases referred to it by Nazaha's investigation and criminal prosecution unit. The source cited a number of prominent cases in which preliminary verdicts have been announced. In one ruling, the court convicted an employee of the Ministry of Defense for embezzling public funds, sentenced him to five years in prison, and ordered him to pay a fine after returning the embezzled money to the state exchequer. In another ruling, a retired officer from the Ministry of Defense was convicted of embezzling public funds and was sentenced to three years in prison. The ex-officer was also ordered to pay a fine after returning the embezzled money to the state exchequer. The court also convicted a number of employees of the Ministry of Housing for taking bribes, handed two to ten years of prison terms, and ordered the confiscation of ill-gotten money. In one of the rulings, a number of residents convicted for offering bribes (which were not accepted) to security officers and public employees to carry out their job duties or refrain from duties entrusted to them by law, and sentenced them to prison ranging from six months to five years. The court convicted a number of employees of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs for misusing their official positions and asking and accepting bribes in exchange for carrying out their job duties or refraining from duties entrusted to them by law. They were handed one year to 15 years of prison terms as well as maximum fines stipulated by law. In another case, a number of employees of the Ministry of Interior were convicted for requesting and accepting bribes. They were sentenced to prison ranging from one to five years. A number of employees in the Ministry of Health were convicted by the court for the misuse of authority and taking bribes. The court sentenced them to prison ranging from one to seven years. The rulings also were issued against a number of state employees in a number of government sectors who have been proven to have side business while at work, in violation of the regulations that prohibit this. The prominent cases which were initiated by the authority recently, are the following: 1. The involvement of 24 employees in the Ministry of Health, 15 employees of the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection, 14 municipality employees, 2 faculty members at a university, and 16 employees of a medical waste disposal company, for obtaining cash estimated in the millions of riyals, travel tickets, accommodation and car reservations for personal use, in addition to employing first degree relatives with the company in exchange for not applying the standard regulations and overlooking the company's violations. 2. The arrest of a former appeal judge for obtaining, during his work, a luxury vehicle in exchange for the issuance of a ruling in an irregular manner, as well as the revocation of three rulings against one of the accused and consequently leading to his release, in addition, it has been proven that the judge paid, in cash (which its source has not been identified), part of the value of a property. 3. In cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, a female citizen was arrested red-handed while paying SR12,000 in exchange for obtaining 45 injections of growth hormone (not intended for sale) from a hospital under the Ministry of Defense. The results of the investigation led to the arrest of a pharmacy owner and an Arab expatriate for having paid sums of money in exchange for obtaining drugs not intended for sale. The investigations also led to the arrest of a citizen for receiving SR14,000 from a businessman in exchange for 300 diabetes test strip boxes and 2 cartons of medical supplies (not intended for sale). 4. In cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, a non-commissioned officer who works in the traffic police in one of the regions was arrested for exploiting a citizen and receiving from him SR20,00 as fees and submitting to him an incorrect government revenue deposit form of the amount. 5. In cooperation with the Saudi Central Bank, an employee at a bank was arrested for getting SR129,800 from citizens in exchange for filing funding requests with incorrect documents. 6. In cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior, an Arab expatriate was arrested for paying SR50,000 in exchange for extending the deadline of the removal of the company's labor accommodation from the Civil Defense. 7. The arrest of an employee who worked as a supervisor in one of the departments of the Personal Affairs Court in one of the regions for receiving SR15,000 riyals in exchange for setting a hearing session in the court.
