Police in Jeddah have arrested a con man who took SR150 million from individuals for spurious investment schemes. The man, who became known for targeting women employed as teachers, began his activities four years ago through a Taif supermarket and soon built up enough clients to open an office for his “investment firm” in Makkah. The “women teachers' shark”, as he was popularly known, told his victims that he could acquire loans in their names and would then claim to invest the money in a range of non-existent projects promising large returns in quick time. Police finally made the arrest at an apartment in the district of Al-Naseem when the man put up a second flat he had acquired for sale, and undercover officers were sent in to pose as potential buyers. Upon his detention, victims approached the Criminal Investigations Department with claims related to the individual's activities. Faiza Farhan, daughter of victim Najat Ghandar who had since passed away, said her mother would have been overjoyed at the news of the arrest. “I just wish she was still alive because the arrest would have made her really happy,” she said. “He took SR270,000 from my mother.”
