1,700 arrested in Saudi anti-corruption clampdown in 2024

Cairo: Saudi authorities arrested 1,708 people, including government employees, accused of involvement in corruption, influence peddling and money laundering, according to a media report.

The arrests were made after the state anti-corruption watchdog had conducted 4,000 sessions of investigations and more than 37,124 oversight rounds, Saudi news website Akhbar24 reported.

During last year’s Muslim annual pilgrimage season in June, the Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority carried out 9,600 inspection tours of the holy sites in and around the city of Mecca and agencies serving pilgrims, resulting in the arrest of 155 people in connection to corruption suspicions.

Government employees accused of corruption crimes during the past year were linked to the ministries of the Interior, National Guard, Defence, Justice, Education, Health, Municipalities and Housing, Human Resources, Trade, Transport, and Culture, as well as the General Authority for Statistics.

Charges raised against them ranged from bribery, job exploitation, money laundering, and forgery.

In recent years, hundreds of state employees and entrepreneurs have been arrested and interrogated in the kingdom over dubious dealings and waste of public money.

In 2017, a Saudi anti-corruption campaign rounded up dozens of royals, state officials and business tycoons. They were briefly held in a luxury Riyadh hotel pending investigations over suspected graft.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has vowed zero tolerance in the fight against corruption.

“Anyone involved in a corruption case, whoever he may be, will not get away with it. He will not survive, whether he is a minister, a prince, or anyone with enough evidence against him. He will be held accountable,” he said in 2017.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia announced uncovering a multi-million-riyal graft case involving diplomats, security personnel and expatriates linked to illegal trade in labour visas.