Saudi arrests businessmen, bank employees in $3.1bn corruption scheme

Saudi authorities have arrested several people including seven businessmen and 12 bank employees as part of a corruption and money laundering scheme that involved transferring more than SAR11.5bn ($3.1bn) outside the country.

An official source at the kingdom’s Anti-Corruption Authority said officials received information about the involvement of a number of bank employees in “receiving bribes from a gang, consisting of a group of residents and businessmen, in exchange for depositing cash sums from an unknown source and transferring them outside the kingdom”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Field investigations and the analysis of customs imports found that the anonymous cash deposited in the accounts of the commercial entities involved in the transactions amounted to more than SAR11.59bn.

Authorities arrested five residents when they were heading to a bank to deposit SAR9.78m in cash that they had in their possession.

In addition, seven businessmen, 12 bank employees, a non-commissioned officer in one of the regions, five citizens, and two residents were also arrested for their involvement in bribery and fraud crimes, and the exploitation of their job influence in illicit financial gain, the report stated.

The authority confirmed that it continues to monitor the market and that anyone who encroaches on public money, or uses their job for personal interest or to harm the public interest would be punished.