MAKKAH — A young Saudi medical surgeon who was convicted in an embezzlement case has fled the Kingdom using the pretext of completing further studies.

He was recently ordered by the Riyadh Supreme Court to return SR750,000 that he obtained from a relative to invest in gold business. The court did not accept his explanation that he had received the money and handed it over to a metals broker who subsequently disappeared, leaving him and his relative in a lurch.

“I decided to leave the Kingdom to complete my higher studies after obtaining certificate in general surgery last year. I have now moved to a nearby Gulf state after receiving information that my father had suffered brain hemorrhage and paralysis on hearing about my predicament,” he said adding that he has not seen his father for five years.

The young surgeon said he had come to know recently that the swindling broker was arrested. He urged the judicial authorities to review the case and overturn their verdict in the wake of the culprit’s arrest. Lawyer Murad Al-Mutairi said that the young doctor can appeal to the higher judicial authorities to reopen the case. — SG