Abdo Khal

Okaz

 

SOMETIMES when I read about fraudsters in the newspapers and how they get to scam people out of a large amount of money and get away so easily, I cannot help but wonder how something like this could happen. How do they get to leave the country with this money?



I do not understand how they get around the system and get away with it. Those fraudsters must be daredevils for they take huge risks and do not fear the consequences of their actions.



One of the fraudsters I recently read about was a Turkish man who is the manager of a company. He took SR260 million while working as a subcontractor and vanished. He must know our systems like the palm of his hand for he has already left the Kingdom with the money.



But the story of this Turkish investor is strange because authorities here have failed to enforce the laws properly. This very man was arrested six months ago in Al-Khobar and put in jail for embezzlement.



Everything went by the book until this man was released from prison. He somehow got a sponsor who would vouch for him and stand as a guarantor for him. He stayed in Al-Khobar six months after his release. As the date of the investigation over his embezzlement approached, he headed for the King Fahd Causeway and left the country just like that.



Had he not known the system, he would not have been able to run away. Throughout the six months he had roamed the city free, neither his passport was seized by the authorities nor his name was put on the travel ban list. Now the sponsor who guaranteed him will be put in jail and the home construction project the Turkish subcontractor was undertaking will come to a halt.



Now the authorities will request Interpol to arrest the Turkish investor. I do not know if there is an extradition agreement between the Kingdom and Turkey. This means that the people who paid money to get villas that were supposed to be built by the subcontractor will have to wait until the cows come home.



After reading this story, how can we blame people who want to do just what the Turkish subcontractor did: embezzle money and run away. It looks like we have become easy targets for fraudsters and money scammers. But with our vulnerable systems and the failure to enforce stricter laws, can we say those fraudsters have legitimate dreams?