RIYADH: The Saudi Public Prosecution said on Sunday that a female citizen and two expatriates convicted of money laundering were fined SR50 million ($13.3 million) and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
An official source in the Public Prosecution confirmed that investigations by the economic crimes unit revealed the female citizen extracted a registry for a commercial entity and opened a bank account, and made them both available to her husband, a national of another Arab state, who in turn agreed with another man of the same nationality to use the bank account to commit money laundering in return of a monthly salary of SR10,000.
The source said the investigations proved that the money circulation in the bank account passed SR63 million, which necessitated the request of customs data, which in turn proved that there were no imports.
This led to the investigation, which revealed that there were no real activities.
The source confirmed that the investigations were completed and that the suspects were referred to the concerned court, which issued a preliminary ruling that convicted them for the crimes attributed to them, noting that a sum of more than SR63 million, equivalent to the sum that was transferred abroad, was confiscated, in addition to confiscating the sum of SR103,322 that was found in the bank account.
In addition to the aforementioned penalties, the female Saudi citizen was banned from traveling for an additional period similar to that of her imprisonment, whilst the other two face deportation at the end of their prison sentences. The commercial entity received a permanent ban on operating.
The source added that the Public Prosecution appealed the verdict, calling for more severe penalties for the perpetrators.
The Public Prosecution pays the utmost attention to protecting commercial activities and the national economy from all forms of criminal practices, and activities that include using commercial entities to conceal or move money from unknown sources.
