"Nazaha" detains the CEO of "AlUla" on charges of abuse of power and corruption.

The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced on its Twitter account late Sunday night that Amr Saleh Al-Madani, CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla Governorate, had been detained on charges of misusing his authority and money laundering prior to joining the public sector. An official source at the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority stated that the civil engineer was arrested for his involvement in crimes of exploiting his position of influence and money laundering. He obtained contracts for the National Talents Company, of which he is a co-owner, from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, in an irregular manner during the period prior to joining government work, through one of his relatives, totaling 206 million riyals. After joining government work, he formally left the company, while maintaining his ownership and recommending it to the responsible departments at the Royal Commission for AlUla Governorate, which enabled it to obtain projects with a total value of 1.29 million riyals. He also obtained personal benefits from companies contracting with the Commission, and obtained his profits from these projects through one of his relatives who was arrested, the citizen Mohammed Suleiman Mohammed Al-Harbi, who admitted to receiving sums from the company and its owners, and in turn passing them on to the aforementioned. The aforementioned partners in the company, namely citizens Saeed Atef Ahmed Saeed and Jamal Khaled Abdullah Al-Dabal, who were arrested, also acknowledged their knowledge and agreement with the CEO regarding the aforementioned facts.

Legal advisor, Majed Al-Ahmari, revealed to Okaz that the arrest of a civilian for his involvement in crimes of exploiting his position of influence and money laundering exposes him to penalties ranging from imprisonment, fines, and confiscation of the funds obtained through the crime. Al-Ahmari explained that the criminal offense must have all its elements, and the elements of the crime of exploiting his position of influence are represented by the material element, which consists of two interconnected elements: the employee or the accused receives a financial reward from the other party, either personally or through an intermediary, with the intention of offering a gift in exchange for providing work, exploiting his position of influence. The second element is acceptance by the other party, where he accepts the offer of the influential person on the condition that he completes tasks for him, under the authority of his position of influence. He pointed out that the moral element is required, adding that the crime of a public employee exploiting his position of authority is imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding 20,000 riyals. The same penalty is imposed on those who participated or colluded with him in committing the crime, whether they were employees or not. Legal advisor, Attorney Abdulaziz bin Dabshi, added: “Article 2 of the Anti-Money Laundering Law stipulates that anyone who transfers, transports, or carries out any transaction with funds, knowing that they are proceeds of a crime, shall be deemed to have committed the crime of money laundering if he/she converts, moves, or carries out any transaction with them, knowing that they are proceeds of a crime, in order to conceal or disguise the illicit source of those funds, or to assist any person involved in committing the original crime from which those funds were obtained to evade the consequences of committing them. He/she shall also be deemed to have committed the crime if he/she acquires, possesses, or uses funds, knowing that they are proceeds of a crime or have an illicit source, or conceals or disguises the nature, source, movement, ownership, location, method of disposing of, or rights associated with funds, knowing that they are proceeds of a crime.”

10 years imprisonment and a 5 million fine

Regarding the penalties for those who commit the crime of money laundering, Attorney Abdulaziz bin Dabshi explained that Article 26 stipulates that anyone who commits the crime of money laundering stipulated in Article 2 of the system shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than two years and not exceeding 10 years, or by a fine not exceeding five million riyals, or by both penalties. He stated that Article 27 stipulates that anyone who commits the crime of money laundering - stipulated in Article 2 of the system - shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than three years and not exceeding 15 years, or by a fine not exceeding seven million riyals, or by both penalties, if the crime is associated with several circumstances, most notably its commission by an organized criminal group, the use of violence or weapons, its connection to a public position held by the perpetrator, or its commission by exploiting power or influence.

Bin Dabshi stressed that Article 28 stipulates that a Saudi convicted of money laundering is prohibited from traveling outside the Kingdom for a period equal to the term of his prison sentence.