JEDDAH: An investigation into money laundering and smuggling has led to four people being sentenced to a total of 24 years’ imprisonment and the confiscation of SR140 million ($37.3 million), a Public Prosecution source has said.

A Saudi citizen was found to have given three expatriates access to his commercial bank accounts to transfer funds abroad for a monthly fee of SR30,000, a crime according to Article 2 of the Anti-Money Laundering Law.
The source said the Public Prosecution is working with the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the Saudi Central Bank to combat money-related crimes, and said that the Public Prosecution will not hesitate to demand severe penalties for those who try to harm the financial and economic security of the Kingdom.
In June, a Saudi national and an expat were sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering. The prosecution said that it was working to recover about SR6 million smuggled abroad through the judicial authority’s International Cooperation Department.
Similarly, a money laundering gang arrested in April was sentenced to a total of 106 years in prison and fined SR1.08 million. Around SR5 million was seized from the gang, and SR2 million was confiscated from their bank accounts, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
In March, Public Prosecution investigations revealed that 11 Arab suspects and two citizens were involved in money laundering and smuggling.
The suspects used the accounts of commercial institutions to deposit funds and receive transfers from local banks to transfer them later to banks abroad, in exchange for a 5 percent commission for each transfer.
Following investigations, the suspects were fined SR166 million and sentenced to a total of 51 years in prison. The Public Prosecution also seized SR176 million, along with SR700,000 in cash and funds deposited in their accounts that exceeded SR7 million.