JEDDAH, 3 March 2005 — Punishments of up to six months in jail sentence and SR10,000 fine are awaiting those who use civilian IDs of other people to buy shares of banks and joint stock companies, according to Nasser Al-Hanaya, undersecretary for civil affairs at the Interior Ministry.
He said the executive bylaw of the civil affairs law containing the punitive measures would be submitted to Interior Minister Prince Naif shortly for approval. He said the real owner of the ID would also be fined up to SR5,000 for violating the law.
Hanaya called upon the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to take appropriate measures to prevent misuse of official documents. He also disclosed plans to issue birth certificates of expatriates’ children through an automatic system.
Referring to the crush of citizens at the civil affairs department to get birth certificates of their children for purchasing Bank Albilad shares, he said it shows that many parents are not keen on registering their children’s birth within the specified time.
