JEDDAH, 14 April — A scandal involving Saudi Telecom Company (STC) officials has surfaced after police in Jeddah arrested a number of STC officials. They allegedly issued more than 1,000 mobile phone chips illegally by using the names of Saudis. The beneficiaries were an expatriate gang of criminals.
Informed sources told Arab News that STC officials involved in the scandal used the civil identity cards of Saudis without their knowledge to issue global mobile phone chips. The chips were then rented to an Arab expatriate racket engaged in the illegal telephone business, offering international calls at discounted rates.
Abdul Ghani Jar, director of STC in Jeddah, confirmed that a number of the company’s officials were involved in the scandal, adding that the police were still questioning the accused. They had been working at STC offices in Jowhara and Nuzla, south of Jeddah.
The gang has been renting out the mobile phones using the global chips over the past several months. The STC has not yet estimated the value of the calls made.
STC sources said the arrested employees had admitted their wrongdoing during interrogation.
The gang was busted after the company and police received a tip-off from a bank, which became suspicious after observing a number of expatriates paying mobile phone bills in the names of Saudis.
The Saudis whose names were used by the gang members approached the company when STC disconnected their land phones. They have subsequently been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The arrested employees also used the secret numbers of other staff members to carry out their illegal operations.
Dr. Abdul Aziz Daghestani, a Saudi economist, said that the scandal involving STC employees was serious and urged the company to tighten its supervision on its staff activities to avoid similar scandals in the future.
“We thank God that the bank acted on its impulses and revealed the racket,” he said.
The government transferred the state-run telecommunications services to the STC in 1998. The Supreme Economic Council last year approved a bill to end the STC monopoly on the Kingdom’s telecommunications sector and to open up to foreign capital.
The government has also been considering plans to privatize the company which also controls the Internet services.
The company announced last week that its long-awaited prepaid chip card will be officially launched on April 27. The prepaid card, branded Sawa, will be available for SR200 and distributed through 10 designated agencies.
With the launch of the chips, it will no longer be necessary for expatriates to pay deposits if they want to use a mobile phone here in the Kingdom.
