JEDDAH: The Administrative Court in Riyadh is scheduled to deliver its verdict Saturday in the case of 12 people, including a judge, charged with forging a title deed of a 2.5 million square meters piece of land in Thuwal, located north of Jeddah. The cost of the land is about SR600 million. The intention behind the forgery of the deed was to get compensation of SR1.2 billion because the land was appropriated for vital public projects. The source stressed that the judge who was implicated in the forgery was stripped of his judicial immunity and faces bribery and forgery charges. The other suspects face various other charges. According to the law, the maximum penalty is 10 years and the minimum is one year for bribery and forgery. The number of charges determines the penalty. The source said two of the accused may be acquitted of the charges leveled against them while the remaining culprits are expected to be punished. According to the charge sheet, those who are implicated in the case are a judge from Habona Governorate, four notaries public and some clerks at Jeddah's Notary Public Office. This is in addition to a businessman and a civil servant working in a government agency, who are accused of conspiring to get the forged title deed issued. He said half of the accused were released under conditional bail, including the notaries public and the judge.
