The embezzlement case filed by the police against a mosque's Imam has taken a new turn as the plaintiff's lawyer Ali Al-Agla has confirmed that he lodged a complaint against the Imam with Jeddah General Court. The Imam who is still insisting on his innocence said he has not received a summons to appear before the court, meanwhile he challenged the Bir Charity Society to produce any evidence proving that he had embezzled the donations given to him to hand over to the society. He allegedly said the officials at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs have not taken any action against him nor have they opened any investigation into the case, adding that what happened was a normal procedure. For his part Mahmoud Bagais, Al-Bir's Director, said the society has filed a complaint against the Imam at the General Court in Jeddah on the grounds that a businesswoman who donated SR150,000 to the society said she handed over the sum to the Imam to dispatch to the society. Bagais said in the complaint that the society had asked the Imam to refund the money denying the allegation raised by the Imam that the documents were forged, stressing that the court would probe the facts. He emphasized that the Imam was on the payroll of the society and not a volunteer as he had claimed, pointing out that the Imam was relieved of his post when the officials at the society discovered the violation. The Imam is now facing two cases: the first one lodged by the society asking him to refund SR150,000 and the second one filed against him by a businesswoman seeking the refund of SR700,000 which she reportedly gave him to hand over to the society. Okaz/SG __
