Saudi Justice Ministry conducts 600 inspection tours of law offices to combat money laundering

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Justice said the General Directorate of Law has carried out inspection tours of more than 600 law offices in the Kingdom this year, as part of its efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.
The ministry indicated that the inspections covered 300 law offices in Riyadh and 311 other offices; 65 in Makkah, 68 in Jeddah, 41 in Madinah, 42 in Dammam, 42 in Khobar, 10 in Al-Ahsa, 65 in Al-Qassim, 30 in Abha and Khamis Mushayt, and 15 in Jazan.
The ministry said the directorate would carry out inspection tours during the three next months covering law offices classified as high-risk. Offices not abiding by the requirements will be referred to the competent committee to be punished accordingly.
Fawaz Al-Tamimi, director general of law, said the general directorate carried out workshops and training sessions for 64 lawyers working in high-risk offices, in coordination with the judicial training center at the ministry.
The General Directorate of Law assessed the risks of the sector last year and is now preparing a technical questionnaire for assessment to distribute among lawyers. It will collect their answers, study and classify them.
Saudi Justice Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Waleed Al-Samaani has adopted a decision to reappoint the permanent team to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, presided by the ministry’s undersecretary for systems and international cooperation and 11 members.
Al-Samaani’s decision also stated that the team’s mission was to meet the local and international requirements of the national committee for combating money laundering and terrorism financing, to develop reports on the measures the ministry is taking in its fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, and to participate in related meetings and workshops.