Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — The Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced a Saudi citizen and an Asian national to two years in prison after their conviction of commercial concealment (cover up). The court also slapped a fine, amounting to SR500000 each on the Saudi citizen and the Asian resident.

The court convicted the Saudi citizen and the Asian national of committing the crime of commercial cover-up and violating the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law. The court ruled to confiscate the illicit funds seized from the accounts of the convicted citizen and expatriate and the proceeds of the crime, besides confiscating counterfeit spare parts of cars, and tools used in the crime.

The penalties also include liquidation and closure of the establishment, cancellation of the commercial register and license, ban from practicing the activity for a period of five years, deportation of the Asian national after serving the jail term and not allowing him to return to Saudi Arabia for work.

The National Anti-Commercial Concealment Program said in a statement that punitive measures were taken against the suspects after receiving information about their suspicious commercial concealment. The Nazaha officials raided the facility and collected evidence of commercial fraud in terms of storing counterfeit car spare parts, and packing and wrapping low-quality spare parts in cartons with trademarks of well-known brands.

It was found in investigations that the Saudi citizen received perfumes and a mobile phone as a gift from the Asian resident for the purpose of luring him and deluding him with his financial capabilities in order to cover him up and enable him to engage in commercial activity illegally.

During the investigation, the crime of commercial cover-up was proven as the Asian resident was found involved in managing the facility for his own account, in exchange for a lump sum money not exceeding SR1000 that the worker had paid to the citizen on a monthly basis in exchange for covering up for him.

The total money resulting from the cover-up crime was revealed, which amounted to about SR30 million, during the investigation, and that the citizen handed over the bank accounts belonging to the establishment to the expatriate.