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Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has issued a royal decree sacking the Commander of the Joint Forces and the Deputy Governor of Al Jouf over corruption, Saudi news agency SPA reported early on Tuesday, citing a royal decree.
The decree read: “The termination of the service of the Commander of the Joint Forces, the relieving of the Deputy Governor of Al Jouf of his responsibilities and their referral along with a number of officers and civil servants of the Defense Ministry for investigation.”
It was based on recommendation by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence to the Control and Anti-Corruption Authority regarding the suspicious financial transactions that were detected in the Ministry of Defence.,
Submissions about financial corruption wereconnected to Lieutenant General Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and a number of officers and civil servants and others.
The anti-corruption authority was ordered to complete investigation with all military and civilians involved, take the necessary legal measures against them, and submit findings to King Salman.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia sacked a number of senior officials at tourism projects, including the historic northwestern site Al Ula and Red Sea mega-projects on suspicion of corruption.
Royal Commission for Al Ula Province, the Red Sea Company and the Souda Development Company submitted over 5,000 violations which could cause environmental damage and affect the process of projects.
The royal decree said that the director general of border guard was to retire, and the Umluj and Al Wajh governors and border guard commanders, head of the Souda Center, officials responsible for “infringements” in the Ministry of Interior and governorates of Madinah, Tabuk and Asir, as well as several others would all be terminated.
The investigation focused on whether the officials facilitated the encroachment of lands that belong to these projects.
They are under investigation by the anti-corruption authority, NAZAHA, Arabic for integrity, suspected of facilitating encroachment of more than 5,000 land plots at the Red Sea mega-project and dozens of plots at the historic city of Al Ula and the Al Souda project in the southwestern city of Abha.
Scores of the kingdom’s economic and political elite were detained in 2017 at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in a corruption crackdown that unsettled some foreign investors.
The royal court said last year it was winding down that campaign after 15 months, but the authorities later said they would start going after graft by ordinary government employees.
