Saudi court jails 11-member fraud ring for 155 years over multi-million- riyal scam

Dubai: A Saudi criminal court has sentenced an organised fraud ring of 11 defendants to a combined 155 years in prison after convicting them of orchestrating complex financial scams that netted about SR40 million from a range of victims, including a former national team official, a Saudi poet and a blind woman.

The network, made up of eight Saudi nationals and three Sudanese residents, was led by a businessman and his wife, a hairdresser, and operated with the help of several accomplices. Prosecutors said the group used elaborate displays of wealth to lure victims, including a rented seaside chalet, luxury cars and distinctive phone numbers, to create the impression of financial credibility and influence, according to Okaz Arabic daily.

The ruling, which was later upheld by an appeals court and is now final, rejected calls for the death penalty, with judges finding no legal basis for such punishment. Instead, lengthy prison sentences were imposed in line with each defendant’s role in the crimes.

The gang leader was sentenced to 25 years in prison and banned from travel for a further 25 years. His wife received a 13-year prison term, a matching travel ban and a fine of SR100,000. One Sudanese resident was sentenced to 18 years in prison, deported from the Kingdom and convicted of money laundering for his role in unlawfully detaining and electrocuting a real estate broker. Other defendants received prison terms ranging from eight to 18 years, alongside fines, deportation orders, travel bans and penalties for facilitating fraudulent transactions through their businesses.

The court also ordered the confiscation of seized funds, mobile phones, SIM cards used in the crimes and the firearm involved, as well as the forfeiture of assets equivalent to the proceeds of money laundering.

Prosecutors said the defendants specialised in selling “illusions”, luring victims into fictitious property deals backed by forged title deeds. In one case, the gang stole a bank cheque from an honorary member of a popular football club while he was praying. The court heard that a former national team supervisor was defrauded of SR12 million, while a blind woman lost SR6 million after being persuaded to grant the group power of attorney. A Saudi poet and writer was also deprived of a deposit paid for a non-existent transaction.

Court documents detailed a pattern of coercion and violence. In one incident, a real estate broker was detained inside the gang leader’s seaside residence, handcuffed, blindfolded and threatened with a firearm until a cheque was issued in exchange for a fictitious property transfer. In another case, a victim was held for several hours until a cheque worth SR5 million was cashed.

Investigators said the gang leader was a repeat offender with prior criminal records and outstanding arrest warrants. Prosecutors presented around 250 pieces of evidence, including digital records, confessions and corroborating material linking the defendants to fraud, forgery, robbery, unlawful detention, money laundering and breach of trust.

During the trial, the defendants were allowed to respond to the charges. The hairdresser told the court she had married the gang leader and claimed she was used to conceal his criminal activities, acknowledging frequent visits to his seaside apartment where fake property deals and cheque fraud were coordinated.