RIYADH — The Court of Appeal in the Eastern Province issued a final verdict against a Saudi woman and her legal representative for enabling a Bangladeshi expatriate to engage in illegal commercial cover-up (tasattur) activity through running a car maintenance facility in the Al-Ahsa governorate. The penalties included closing the facility and liquidating its activity, revoking its commercial register, imposing fine on the violators, and deportation of the Bangladeshi resident. The joint inspection teams from the National Program to Combat Commercial Concealment started implementing the punitive measures after the conviction of those involved in the illegal cover-up activity. The court found guilty of the accused that the Bangladeshi resident was allowed to misuse the facility's commercial registry to work for himself, manage and operate the facility, supervise its workers, and transfer the funds resulting from his illegal activity to outside Saudi Arabia. It is noteworthy that the National Program to Combat Commercial Concealment has set 10 standards for establishments' compliance with market rules approved by government agencies, and these are monitored continuously. The Anti-Concealment Law stipulates the imposition of maximum jail terms of five years, fines up to SR5million, and the seizure and confiscation of illicit funds earned through the illegal activity after final judicial rulings are issued against those involved in the crime.
