RIYADH — Several government officials and individuals have been awarded penalties, including jail terms and hefty fines after convicted of committing crimes of corruption such as bribery, forgery, money laundering, abuse of power, and embezzlement of public funds. The convicts included governor of a region, a judge, a colonel and a major, according to statements released by the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) on its Twitter account. The Riyadh Criminal Court issued the verdicts after referring financial and administrative corruption cases against them by Nazaha, an official source at the authority said. The governor of a region was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of SR25,000 after being convicted of bribery and embezzlement of money. A judge, who was convicted of crimes such as bribery, administrative abuse, and breach of the integrity of the position, has been awarded with 10 years in prison and a fine of SR300,000. The court sentenced a police officer in one of the regions to seven years in prison and a fine of SR60,000. He was found guilty of smuggling detainees out, as well as of breaching his duties for the sake of fulfilling a mediator's request, in addition to charges of forgery, and covering up on fugitives and on his mediator's information. The court awarded 11-year jail term and a fine to director of the Expropriation Department in one of the regions municipality and the charges against him included forgery, money laundering and accepting bribery while a citizen who paid the bribe and was involved in money laundering was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of SR350,000. In another ruling the court sentenced an expatriate, who works in one of the contracting companies with the Ministry of Education, to three years in prison and a fine of SR100,000. The resident was convicted of offering an amount of SR300,000 as bribe to one of the ministry's employees in exchange for signing bogus certificates of completion in order to disburse financial amounts that are due for the company. A lawyer, who was convicted of bribery and money laundering was sentenced to seven years in jail and a fine of SR70,000, while an employee of the Public Prosecution was convicted of money laundering, breaching his job duties for disclosing information about some cases, and accepting bribery, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison and a fine of SR50,000. Another employee of the Public Prosecution was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and a fine of SR50,000 after he was convicted of accepting bribery, as well as being involved in money laundering. In the same case, a clerk in the Public Prosecution, who was convicted of accepting bribery and abusing the public office, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and a fine of SR15,000. An officer, with the rank of colonel, in the General Administration of Civil Defense in one of the regions was awarded 10-year jail term and a fine of SR600,000 after being convicted of accepting bribery, in addition to other crimes such as abuse of power for personal gain, embezzlement of public funds, and participation in money laundering. In the same case, a businessman was convicted of paying bribery apart from being involved in abuse of power, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of SR1,650,000, in addition to closing his commercial activities related to the case, and preventing him from concluding any contracts or projects with ministries, government departments, and public corporate entities. Another businessman, who was convicted of paying bribery and participating in administrative misuse, was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of SR400,000, in addition to preventing him from clinching any contracts with ministries, government departments and public corporate entities. The second businessman's legal agent was convicted of bribery and participation in administrative misuse, and was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of SR300,000 while a citizen was convicted of complicity in breaching the integrity of the public office and was sentenced to six months in prison. A ruling was also issued to confiscate the earnings of bribery, amounting to SR42,000, and the proceeds from the money laundering crime, amounting to SR700,000. The Criminal Court also awarded an officer, with the rank of major, four-year jail term and a fine amounting to SR20,000 and confiscation of another SR8,402. The major, who works as a housing complex manager for one of the housing complexes affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, was convicted of requesting and taking a gift indirectly and exploiting his position. A female employee, who works in the Ministry of Education, was convicted of accepting bribe, and she was sentenced to two and a half years in jail and a fine of SR25,000. The Nazaha appreciated the efforts of government entities in fighting financial and administrative corruption. It also lauded the initiatives to develop policies and procedures that shut any avenues for corruption.
