Saudi, expat jailed, fined for commercial cover-up
Citizen convicted of enabling foreign partner to do contracting business without licence
Cairo: A court in Riyadh has issued a final verdict of imprisonment and fines against a Saudi citizen and an expatriate after they were convicted of illegal commercial cover-up, the latest such ruling announced in the kingdom.
The Saudi man was found guilty of enabling the Egyptian expatriate of getting engaged in the contracting business in the Zulfi governorate, in the northern part of the Riyadh region, in violation of the kingdom's laws.
The Ministry of Commerce had uncovered the crime of cover-up after it was proven that both men were implicated in project contracts through an equal partnership without the expat partner obtaining an investment licence.
The ministry published the court ruling on the case, which includes imposing undeclared fines on both defendants, imprisoning them for two months each and naming to sham them.
Furthermore, the verdict ordered striking off the commercial register, revoking the licence, liquidating the activity of the establishment involved in the illegal practice, preventing the Saudi person from practising commercial activity for two years, deporting the expat convict from the kingdom and barring him from return for work.
Saudi authorities have recently launched an electronic service allowing commercial institutions to report about a commercial cover-up perpetrated by their counterparts in a step aimed to ensure compliance with the market rules in the kingdom and curb the illegal act.
Previously, reporting about commercial cover-up cases was limited to individuals and consumers.
Violation of the anti-commercial cover-up law in Saudi Arabia is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of five years and fines up to SR5 million, impounding and confiscating the illicit money after a final court ruling is issued against the offender.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia set up the National Programme to Combat Commercial Cover-Up with support from several state institutions in Saudi Arabia including the ministries of human resources and municipalities.