Cairo: A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to two months in prison and ordered her to pay a fine of SR40,000 for violating the kingdom's anti-commercial cover-up system.
The Saudi woman, who was named and shamed in a Ministry of Commerce statement, breached the anti-commercial cover-up rules in the contracting business in Riyadh.
The Riyadh-based court also ordered the woman's commercial registration be annulled, her establishment's activity liquidated, licence revoked, and due taxes as well zakat alms paid. The court ruling was published at the defendant's expense.
Saudi authorities have recently launched an electronic service allowing commercial institutions to report about commercial cover-up acts perpetrated by their counterparts in a step aimed to ensure compliance with the market rules in the kingdom and curb the illegal practice.
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, fines up to SR5 million, impounding and confiscating the illegal 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.
In undertaking the mission, the programme, affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce, promotes opening bank accounts for businesses, automating services and boosting commercial transparency.
