MADINA: A Madina Court judge being held on charges of financial and administrative corruption has told investigators that he was “put under a spell” by a real estate broker accused in the case and who has fled, sources have said. The sources were unable to confirm or deny that the judge had admitted guilt in the case, but they said he told investigators that the broker had “taken control of his thoughts” and passed cases through the judge “without him being aware of committing any illegal act”. The judge said “I was later cured by “ruqya,” or Qur'anic recitation. The judge is accused of accepting large bribes to arrange illegal ownership of real estate, with businessmen, state employees and seven engineering and planning firms – four of which have been charged – all thought to be involved. According to a source, the four firms charged are accused of drawing up plans for the illegally owned lands to enable the broker to obtain new deed titles from the judge. The source added that investigators are still working to determine if the other three firms are involved in the case. According to the law, engineering and planning firms can only develop and plan legally owned land. A Madina Court engineer who was arrested for overseeing the execution of plans for the illegally owned land has provided investigators with information on 30 more state officials and businessmen involved in the corruption case, the source said. The head of the construction licenses department at the Madina Mayor's Office submitted his resignation two weeks ago. His post was responsible for the authorization of construction permits for developed land. An investigator said Sunday that he was “surprised” to learn of the resignation. Authorities have also detained 12 officials in Madina for tricking people into selling their approved government housing at “highly undervalued” prices. The owners had been provided with their homes by the government instead of loans. A source said that ownership was transferred to the officials who subsequently sold each unit for no less than SR400,000 using illegal title deeds certified by Madina Court judges. One lawyer described corruption at the Madina Court as “extensive” and cited a judge's dismissal of a pollution case brought against a number of factories allegedly responsible for the death of many residents. Lawyer Saud Al-Hijaili said he filed a SR2-billion lawsuit for over 600 residents – some of whom had suffered severe complaints which they attributed to industrial pollution - against three factories in Madina. “The judge refused to look into the case,” Al-Hijaili said. “The case was legal and all legal procedures were in place, yet it was still thrown out for reasons not properly explained,” Al-Hijaili said.
