Saudis arrest 207 officials in new corruption crackdown

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s anti-graft authority has arrested 207 citizens and expatriates for alleged involvement in corruption, the authority said.

The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) said that the accused included officials in the ministries of defence, interior, national guard, health, justice, municipal and rural affairs, housing, environment, water and agriculture, education, trade, human resources and media.

The officials were charged with bribery, abuse of power and forgery. They were arrested during as many as 878 inspection raids, carried out by the Nazaha teams last month.

The arrest of the suspects was made after carrying out investigations into the alleged role of 461 people. Nazaha said that the legal procedures are being completed prior to referring them to courts.

The authority called on everyone to report any suspicious activities involving financial or administrative corruption by phone, email or via its website.