DAMMAM — The Ministry of Commerce and Investment has defamed the a wholesale dealer of foodstuffs in Dammam after a court found him guilty of violating the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law by possessing and offering for sale 255 tons of contaminated rice.

The businessman was also found guilty of storing the rice in a primitive way in an unlicensed warehouse, which lacked the hygiene and safety requirements for storing foodstuffs.

The Criminal Court in Dammam sentenced the man to a fine of SR100,000. It also ordered the closure of the warehouse and defamation of its owner by publishing the ruling in a local newspaper at his expense.

The ministry’s inspection teams were carrying out routine inspection tours in Dammam when they discovered the warehouse containing contaminated rice. Some 6,000 bags of rice, each weighing 40-45 kg, were seized and destroyed. Larvae and insects were found in the confiscated quantity. — SG