RIYADH — The Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced one Saudi citizen and an Egyptian national to two months in prison for their involvement in commercial cover-up. The penalties also include fines, canceling the commercial registration, canceling the license, liquidating the company's activity, preventing the citizen from practicing commercial activity for two years, collecting zakat, fees and taxes, deporting the Egyptian from the Kingdom and not allowing him to return to the Kingdom for work, and publishing the court verdict in the local media at the convicts' personal expense. The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the citizen was found guilty of allowing the Egyptian resident in commercial cover-up in contracting activities in Al-Zulfi governorate. The ministry revealed that it was proven that the two parties were partners in project contracts, with a share of 50 percent for each of them, without the Egyptian resident obtaining an investment license, thus enabling him to work commercially on his own account. It is noteworthy that the National Program to Combat Commercial Cover-Up has set 10 criteria for establishments' compliance with the market rules approved by government agencies, and they are monitored continuously. The Anti-Commercial Cover-Up Law stipulates the imposition of prison sentences of up to five years, a maximum fine of SR5 million, and the seizure and confiscation of illicit funds after the issuance of final judicial rulings against those involved.
