Saudi Arabia detains 149 in corruption crack down
266, including govt officials, quizzed for bribery, influence peddling, money laundering
Cairo: Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption watchdog has said it interrogated 266 suspects in graft cases last month including government employees as part of an inexorable clampdown on corruption in the kingdom.
Suspects included employees at the ministries of interior, justice, health, education, national guard and housing, the state agency known as Nazaha disclosed on its X account.
The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority added that of the suspects interrogated in July 149 defendants were arrested and some of them were released on bail.
They were charged with involvement in bribery, job exploitation and money laundering.
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“Disciplinary procedures are being completed to refer them to judiciary,” it added without giving further details.
Over 3,000 raids
The agency said it had conducted a total of 3,010 inspection raids during July.
In recent years, hundreds of state employees and entrepreneurs have been arrested and interrogated in Saudi Arabia over dubious dealings and waste of public money.
Last month, Nazaha said it had detained 155 persons after investigations with 382 suspects in different corruption cases, some linked to the annual Hajj pilgrimage season.
In 2017, a Saudi anti-corruption swoop netted dozens of royals, state officials and business tycoons. They were briefly detained in a luxury Riyadh hotel pending investigations over suspected graft.
Last year, Saudi Arabia uncovered a multi-million-riyal graft case involving diplomats, security personnel and expatriates linked to illegal trade in labour visas.
In connection with the case, Nazha disclosed the names of 13 suspects, including two diplomats who worked at the Saudi embassy in Bangladesh.