RIYADH: A colonel who had retired from the Kingdom’s Presidency of State Security has been arrested after being caught receiving a sum of money in exchange for claiming to close a corruption case against a businessman.
Saad Ibrahim Al-Yousef was caught receiving a check for SR30,000,000 ($7,994,772) in exchange for claiming to close and finalize a pending financial and administrative corruption case at the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority. Al-Yousef had arranged to receive SR100,000,000 in total as part of the deal, the authority said.
The colonel exploited information which had been available to him during his previous work, with the assistance of a female named Amnah Mohammed Ali Abdullah, of Yemeni origin. Abdullah falsely claimed to hold a government position and claimed she was a member of one of the ruling families of a Gulf state.
Abdullah forged a letter, including a royal order, to deceive the businessman.
The pair also collected SR80,000,000 from citizens, with the assistance of a Syrian called Mohammed Saleem Atfah and a Sudanese resident named Adel Najm Aldeen.
They claimed to have invested the sum in state projects but the group of four purchased real estate inside and outside the Kingdom, and valuable possessions that were then smuggled out of the Kingdom, the authority said.
All the individuals have been arrested and legal measures are currently being taken against them.
Anyone who exploits public office to achieve personal gain or harm the public interest in any way will be prosecuted, the authority said.
