A Jeddah Summary Court official has slammed the mayoralty for being “negligent and tardy” in providing documents needed to sell a piece of land on the Corniche that will benefit the victims of a fraud scheme. The property belongs to convicted fraudster, Ahmed Solaiman Al-Suraisiri, currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for stealing SR600 million of investors' money. The property is worth about SR200 million. The court official said four letters had been sent to the mayoralty requesting documents needed for the selling of a land belonging to Al-Suraiseri, the main suspect in the fraud case. The court official described the mayoralty as “stalling” the process. This comes 24 hours after a mayoralty official said that “the mayoralty has no interest in stalling or delaying the handing over of the land in question”. The court official said the mayoralty did not respond to requests for the documents until the Emir's Office ordered it to speed up the process. “The mayoralty, in its statement, admitted it unjustifiably kept the ownership title for 18 months after it was requested by the court,” the court official said. Holding onto the documents was a contravention of Article 50 of the Basic Governance System, said the official. He said the court had only asked for a copy of the title deed and sketch of the location. “The transaction could have been completed in two weeks at the most if the mayoralty had responded properly. A year-and-a-half delay is unacceptable,” the source said. The court says it has a copy of a cable dispatched from the office of Makkah's Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal to the Jeddah mayor, at the beginning of the year, calling for the mayor to personally sort out the matter with mayoralty staff. The Emir's order also supported the observation of the Jeddah Summary Court judge, Abdulaziz Al-Shithri, that the actions of the mayoralty employee holding up the process was tantamount to a violation of the Civil Service and the Control and Investigation Board (CIB) regulations. It was recommended that matter be referred to the CIB for action to be taken against those responsible. Al-Shithri had also written a letter to the mayoralty stating that “the failure of an official to perform his duty leads to the spread of administrative corruption”. The judge further accused the notary public for delaying the title deed. According to the letter, the title deed had been at the notary public's office for 70 days without it being processed. The court has taken possession of around SR30 million in money from Al-Suraisiri's bank account and placed it in an account set up to compensate investors. The court is expected to hold its first hearings at the end of the month when 23 other accused will face trial. Al-Suraisiri is currently in the fourth year of his 15-year prison term. The sentence, brought through public legal action, includes lashes and a 10-year travel ban after his release. Private action against him is currently being considered.
