Saudi’s Nazaha arrests 172 individuals in latest corruption crackdown

Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) has confirmed that it has arrested 172 individuals in the kingdom between October 7-November 5, 2021.

The authority took to Twitter to confirm that it had conducted 6,061 oversight rounds in the course of that period and had investigated 512 people suspected of administrative and financial corruption.

It led to the 172 arrests mostly on charges of bribery, abuse of office and abuse of power and forgery.

The individuals included employees from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Saudi National Guard, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and the Education and Training Evaluation Commission.

#The_Oversight_and_Anti_Corruption_Authority initiates a number of criminal and administrative cases during the month of Rabi Al-Awwal 1443H pic.twitter.com/l9QuceJwkg

— Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (@nazaha_en) November 6, 2021

The authority called on the public to report suspicious financial or administrative corruption by contacting them directly.

In the month prior, from September 8-October 6, 2021, Nazaha confirmed that it had initiated 10,329 oversight visits, which led to 639 individuals being investigated, among which 271 were arrested. The arrests included Saudi citizens as well as expats.

In a high-profile case in September this year, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has terminated the kingdom’s director of Public Security on corruption charges. First lieutenant general Khaled bin Qarar bin Ghanem Al-Harbi was charged with numerous violations and allegedly ‘abused’ his role to seize public money for his personal use. He is also accused of committing a number of crimes, including forgery, bribery and abuse of influence, with the participation of 18 people from the public and private sectors.