MOC defames Saudi citizen, Syrian resident for Tasattur

Itmam Updates:

A Saudi citizen and Syrian resident were defamed by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce after being guilty of defrauding heavy equipment trade-in Dammam.
The accused were referred to the Public Prosecution and eventually to the courts as per anti-cover-up (Tasattur) laws.
The issue uncovered a commercial Tasattur in a contracting facility where a citizen enabled a Syrian resident to purchase heavy equipment at auctions and sell it to facilities and individuals.
The Dammam Criminal Court has fined the violators SR400,000 and defamed them in the mass media at their expense.
The court requested to blacklist the resident, who had fled Saudi Arabia and bar him from returning to the country for work.
Additional penalties included closing the facility, liquidating the business, writing off the commercial registry, forbidding the operator from engaging in commercial activity in the future, and collecting zakat, fees, and other taxes.
According to the investigations, a personal account was used for covering up transactions, including the transfer of mass amounts of cash outside the Kingdom. A notable increase in the financial transactions by the resident confirmed that he was earning commission through Tasattur.
The national program to combat Tasattur has adopted modern mechanisms to limit the sources of cover-up. As many as 20 government agencies are working to control concealment using artificial intelligence techniques, data, and information analysis.
Violators of the law are imposed severe penalties, including five years in prison and a fine of SR5 million, along with the confiscation of illegal funds.