The handing over of the formal documents detailing the verdicts given earlier this month to 23 Taif municipality officials and businessmen accused of bribery and corruption has been put back until the fourth day of Ramadan. A legal source at Jeddah's Administrative Court close to the case, in which 16 persons were found guilty after three years of judicial hearings, said that the move was “entirely administrative”, and was due to “the size of the case and the number of persons involved. The Administrative Court in Jeddah announced on July 14 verdicts condemning the 16 convicted to prison, dismissal from positions of employment, and fines. The remaining seven were absolved of all charges. Defendants were accused of accepting bribes totaling SR1.4 million from private businessmen for the award of government grants, as well as wasting public money, appropriating government funds for personal gain, falsification of data, and supplying electricity to premises without the proper permits. Two private businessmen were also sentenced to fines of SR150,000.
