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Rabigh officials face bribery trial

JEDDAH: The Court of Appeals' administrative court in Makkah region is considering a bribery case against two government officials in Rabigh -- a Saudi surveyor at Rabigh municipality and an Arab intermediary -- municipality sources told Arab News on Tuesday.

They said after intensive investigations, the Prosecution and Investigation Commission (PIC) said the four suspects should be charged with receiving SR400,000 in bribes and stand trial.

According to the sources, the four suspects included a senior official at the municipality, an education director in the province who is at the same time a senior official at the City Council, a municipality surveyor and a Sudanese expatriate who acted as an intermediary.

The sources said the 26-year-old Sudanese and the 59-year-old Saudi surveyor were caught by administrative investigators while the illegal transaction took place. They added that an investor had applied to the municipality to buy a piece of land in an industrial area in Rabigh near the Aramco refinery, but his request was rejected.

They added that after many attempts, the intermediary began talks with senior official at the municipality, who finally agreed to grant the investor the piece of land if he paid SR400,000.

The sources said the investor, who was exasperated by the municipality officials' treatment of him, tipped off investigators about the bribe demand. The administrative investigators asked the investor to help them set up a trap by pretending to give in to their demand. They then caught the intermediary and surveyor as they were exchanging the money. The duo later revealed the names of their accomplices.

The intermediary and surveyor said they were asked by the 36-year-old education director and 43-year-old senior official to ask the investor for the money. The PIC charged the two senior officials with bribery, the surveyor for participating in the crime and the Sudanese man for acting as an intermediary and accepting a share of SR5,000.

During investigations, the surveyor admitted the charges against him and said he accepted the money on behalf of the senior municipality official while the education director claimed he was following up on paperwork for the investor.

An Egyptian, who works for the municipality, said the director had asked him to assist the investor and to quickly complete his paperwork.

The Sudanese man admitted that he was told the senior municipality official would pocket a big chunk of the bribe.

The official, the main suspect, admitted that he had directed the head of the municipality's investments department to give the investor the piece of land, which was previously earmarked for someone else. If they are found guilty, they face a prison sentence of up to 10 years, a fine of SR1 million or both.

The PIC recommended trying the suspects under articles 1, 5, 10 and 11 of the rules and regulations regarding bribery.

The intermediary and surveyor is likely to be jailed for two years and to be fined SR50,000.

This is considered the second largest bribery case involving municipality officials after a famous case in Taif in which 26 officials were found guilty of receiving a bribe of SR1.4 million.

By MUHAMMAD AL-SULAMI

© Arab News 2010