The Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority has initiated several criminal cases over the past period, including bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement, and forgery in multiple government agencies, confirming that legal procedures have been completed against those involved, and stressing its continued pursuit of financial and administrative corruption crimes, according to a statement by the authority on Wednesday.

Businessman Attempted to Evade Customs Duties of 14 Million Riyals

The cases were topped by the arrest of a businessman after he offered 1.6 million riyals to a customs clearance agent to facilitate the entry of two shipping containers via Jeddah Islamic Port containing restricted tobacco, aiming to evade paying government customs duties amounting to 14 million riyals.

Bribery Cases in Health, Energy, and Human Resources

According to the 'Nazaha' statement, the cases included the arrest of an employee in the Ministry of Health in one region after receiving 900,000 riyals in installments for awarding several projects to a commercial entity irregularly.

Also, in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy, a resident working on one of the ministry's projects was arrested while receiving 200,000 riyals in exchange for not issuing fines and violations against a commercial entity valued at 1.5 million riyals.

In another case, an employee of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority was arrested while receiving 55,000 riyals for irregularly modifying the status of goods arriving in Saudi Arabia.

The cases also included the arrest of an employee in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development while receiving 10,000 riyals for not issuing violations against a commercial entity during field inspections, in addition to arresting another ministry employee and a citizen after the former received 2,500 riyals for issuing a false letter to cancel an absence report on a resident in preparation for transferring his sponsorship.

Violations in Municipalities, Passports, and Amanats

The authority arrested a former military member in the General Directorate of Passports after receiving 60,500 riyals for irregularly processing transactions related to expatriates.

It also arrested two employees in a municipality of one province after they received 40,000 riyals for processing transactions in violation of regulations, in addition to arresting an employee in the Amanah of one region while receiving 10,000 riyals out of an agreed 50,000 riyals for completing a transaction.

In a separate case, four employees in a municipality of one province were arrested after it was proven that they irregularly employed a number of citizens who were their relatives, and paid salaries to several residents working in the municipality and benefited from them by irregular means.

Cases Involving the Judiciary and Health

The authority arrested a resident working for an engineering consulting office and assigned as an expert by the commercial court in a commercial dispute case, while receiving 50,000 riyals out of an agreed 100,000 riyals for irregularly preparing a technical report in favor of one of the dispute parties.

It also arrested a resident working in a health facility after receiving money for issuing a medical examination report and lab test for an expatriate without his attendance, and attaching the reports via the 'Baladi' platform.

In other cases, it arrested an employee in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance for seizing computers from the ministry's warehouse, and arrested an employee at a driving school while receiving money for issuing a driver's license without the applicant's attendance, and also arrested the manager of a periodic inspection station and an employee at the station after they received money for irregularly concluding vehicle inspection procedures.

The Authority Continues to Monitor Anyone Who Attacks Public Funds

The official spokesperson of the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority confirmed that the authority continues to monitor and arrest anyone who attacks public funds or exploits their position for personal interests or harms the public interest, stressing that financial and administrative corruption crimes are not subject to statute of limitations, and that the authority is proceeding to apply regulations against all violators without leniency.