Sr400000 Fine To An Expat And 1 Year Jail To Saudi On A Cover Up Business

2018-Nov-28

 Money Launderings is a serious crime: Money laundering is one of the Illegal activities that adversely affect the economy as well as on society. It tends to shift power from the authorities and the government towards the criminals. With strong criminals in society, society gets weaker and does not flourish.
 In Saudi Arabia, the authorities are at a crackdown mission against the illegal economic activists. Such people tend to harm the economy and society. They are no less than murderers, they tend to harm the economy in the worst possible way.
 The expat was selling mobiles on the name of a Saudi: Recently, during the crackdown, the authorities were able to catch a Saudi citizen and an expat involved in money laundering. The two were residing in Riyadh and according to the Ministry of Commerce and Investment (MCI, both were found guilty of commercial concealment and money laundering.
 Investigations revealed that the Saudi national was providing help to expat by allowing him to work on his own bank account. The expat was working in the telecommunication sector where he was trading mobile phones and mobile recharge cards.
 He was using the Saudi citizen’s commercial registration (CR) and bank accounts to illegally run his business. The Saudi national was receiving a monthly amount of SR 1,500 for allowing the expat to use his CR and bank accounts. The expat was making as much as SR 4,500 profit per month.
 
 The authorities were able to catch them up as their transaction from banks were way to more than their trade size and activity. During questioning, the expat admitted to running the business on his own account.
 The bank accounts of the culprits revealed that they held cash deposits, people of different nationalities would deposit money in their account and they would receive remittances from institutes that were conducting various trade activities.
 The punishment: According to the verdict of the Riyadh’s Criminal Court, both the Saudi national and the expat have been fined with as much as SR400,000. The expat shall be imprisoned for 2 years while the Saudi shall be jailed for 11 months.
 The Saudi shall not be allowed to travel for 2 years as a two years long travel ban has been imposed in him. This period will start after his release from jail. Not only his CR has been canceled but he won’t be allowed to undergo the same business.
 The expat would be deported from the country and would not be allowed to re-enter: Both were involved in money laundering and got themselves covered under the telecom sector trading. The ministry shall defame both by providing details in the local newspaper at the expense of the criminals.
 The people of Saudi Arabia are glad to know that the ministry is not showing leniency towards these criminals be it expats or nationals.
 Source: Saudi Gazette