Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) revealed a number of criminal cases in which it has taken action against the offenders as part of its mandate to root out corruption and strengthen integrity across the country.
The Authority stated that its latest investigations – involving customs, municipal affairs, the judiciary, education, healthcare, and security sectors – have resulted in multiple high-profile arrests.
Nazaha reaffirmed its firm commitment to transparency, accountability, good governance, enforcing the law and preserving the public interest. It added that all individuals involved in these cases will be held fully accountable, regardless of rank, affiliation, or retirement status, reiterating that corruption-related crimes are not subject to a statute of limitations.
Saudi authority exposes major corruption cases
The Authority highlighted a particularly serious case, in which a Ministry of Interior security officer and an accomplice were arrested for kidnapping a company collector and stealing SAR 707,000 (US$188,535).
Several of the cases involved corruption in customs and municipal services.
Two customs employees and a broker were arrested after allegedly accepting SAR 400,000 (US$106,666) in bribes to expedite the import process for trucks.
One municipal department head was found to have SAR 7.1 million (US$1.89 million) in personal accounts linked to the illegal cancellation of commercial fines.
A police officer and a municipal employee were detained for allegedly receiving SAR 110,000 (US$29,333) from business owners in exchange for facilitating the illegal extraction and sale of metals from government buildings. The scheme, over the years, generated over SAR 4.6 million (US$1.23 million) for the perpetrators.
Nazaha also unearthed the case of one official, who offered SAR 100,000 (US$26,666) to a colleague to manipulate contract outcomes.
Other violations included municipal employees accepting bribes to overlook regulatory breaches, shop violations, and illegal construction activity.
Judicial integrity also came under scrutiny, with a court clerk arrested after taking SAR 32,500 (US$8,666), half of a promised sum of SAR 65,000 (US$17,333) to influence the outcome of a criminal case and secure an acquittal.
In the education sector, a resident was taken into custody for receiving over SAR 230,000 (US$61,333) to manipulate the awarding of subcontract work on Ministry of Education projects.
The healthcare sector also came under the Nazaha radar. Senior procurement officials in regional health clusters were arrested for soliciting bribes in exchange for awarding contracts. Also, a doctor at a government hospital was arrested for issuing fraudulent medical leave documents in exchange of money.
