Saudi Arabia removes public security chief over corruption

King Salman has removed Saudi Arabia’s public security director from his position over corruption charges.

Lt. Gen. Khalid bin Qarar Al-Harbi had been taking public funds for his personal benefit, Saudi Press Agency reported.

He is accused of several crimes including forgery, bribery, and abusing power along with with 18 private and public sector employees.

His services have been terminated and he will be retired and referred for investigation by the Oversight and Anti-corruption Authority (Nazaha).

Meanwhile, a Saudi Ministry of National Guard major general and three retired officers of the same rank were among high-profile officials arrested and investigated in the latest batch of corruption cases handled by authorities in the Kingdom.

As part of its zero-tolerance stance toward illegal activities in public office, Nazaha launched legal procedures against numerous individuals accused over a range of financial and administrative crimes.

In one case, the director of a major contracting company’s project management department was arrested along with five retirees made up of a lieutenant colonel, brigadier general, government employee, senior Ministry of Interior official, and another Ministry of National Guard major general.

And a retired Ministry of Interior worker was also probed for receiving paid travel expenses from the contracting firm.

A former vice rector was arrested after authorities discovered SR13 million ($3.4 million) stashed away in personal bank accounts, and real estate assets amounting to 19 properties. His bank statements showed deposits and transfers received from commercial contractors at the university where he worked. In another case, a military employee at a Ministry of Interior ammunition depot was accused of allowing two citizens to illegally obtain 12,467 bullets in return for SR51,000 ($13,600). The citizens were also arrested.

Separately, three Interior Ministry military officers were arrested for releasing an illegal expat from a police department in exchange for a bribe of SR15,000, and a noncommissioned officer in a regional police department was investigated for pocketing SR30 million from selling random plots of land, with no deeds, in areas he was in charge of.

A former head of the review board in one of the general courts was arrested for receiving SR2 million from an owner of a property (who was also held), in exchange for completing the ownership transfer process of land owned by a cooperative association.

Nazaha officers questioned the head of a charity association over claims he had awarded projects worth SR6 million to, and funneled association funds into, commercial entities he owned.

A Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development employee was arrested for receiving SR20,000 out of a promised SR40,000 in exchange for expediting the finalization of a filed absence report on an expat.

A municipality employee and the owner of a government paperwork clearance office were quizzed for receiving SR13,000 to remove two fines imposed for violations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) precautionary measures.

Additionally, a noncommissioned officer from at the Ministry of Interior stole SR460,485 meant to cover subsistence allowances for prisoners.

A doctor working in a government hospital was arrested for establishing a private at-home clinic, using the hospital’s laboratories for his private practice, and benefitting from the illegal sale of medication from the hospital’s pharmacy.

A Ministry of Commerce employee was caught red-handed for receiving bribes from the owner of a commercial entity in exchange for removing violations, and a bank employee took money to disclose customer data to a citizen.

Two employees within a department of the Ministry of Education were arrested for illegally adding SR211,412 from the ministry’s payroll account to a paycheck of one of the accused individuals.

Officials looked into the case of an engineer from the Royal Commission for Riyadh City accused of receiving a financial bribe from an executive company director in exchange for information related to a future procurement project.

And two citizens were arrested for assaulting the head of a municipality in order to force him to approve an illegal application.