Saudi Arabia: Two doctors held over ‘absentee’ surgeries

Dubai: Two doctors have been arrested in Saudi Arabia for paying unauthorised personnel to perform 18,953 surgeries on their behalf and forging medical reports claiming they did the operations themselves, Al Arabiya reported.

According to a statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), the two physicians had requested that the hospital pay them more than $23 million for the surgeries.

Nazaha stated that they have initiated action in 17 other corruption cases, adding that legal procedures were underway against those accused.

According to the Nazaha statement, one of the most significant cases involved a retired municipal worker who had been collecting payments in exchange for approving land plans while employed by the City Planning Department. Before the authorities discovered his crime and detained him, the man had over $21 million in his bank account that was unaccounted for.

A police colonel, an employee of one of the companies operating at a Saudi airport, a hotel manager, and a civilian were also detained for enabling 89 residents to stay unlawfully and seek to visit the holy sites for Hajj.

A lieutenant colonel with the police department was arrested for stealing $201,081, according to Nazaha.

In another case, a former employee in a sub-municipality was arrested for illegally awarding $2,911,384 to projects for a commercial entity he owns.

Nazaha stated that it will continue to pursue anyone who uses public office for personal gain or harms the public in any way.