JUBAIL, 5 October 2005 — Mohammad Saeed Al-Ghamdi, a low-salaried Saudi government employee in Jubail, has set an example for all civil servants by refusing a bribe of SR2 million. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah commended Al-Ghamdi for his honesty and rewarded him with a promotion and a salary increase.
According to a report carried by Al-Watan Arabic daily, a real estate developer offered Al-Ghamdi the bribe in order to establish ownership of land worth SR100 million. The bribe was offered while Al-Ghamdi was working at Jubail Court.
“I did not want the SR2 million bribe because I know it is not lawful money. I will never feed my children with money from a bribe. If I had done what he asked, I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life,” the paper quoted Al-Ghamdi as saying.
The developer selected Al-Ghamdi because he mistakenly believed that a man receiving a monthly salary of only SR1,500 would be easy to bribe. The developer wanted Al-Ghamdi to remove a document and make some changes to it. “The developer came to me and wanted me to do some paper work related to land he owned in eastern Jubail. I showed the document to the judge and he ordered me to compare it with the original. When I did, I found that the paper the developer had given me was not the same as the original. I planned to go back to the judge to tell him about it when the developer approached me and offered me SR1 million if I would use the fake document and complete the formalities. I asked for some time to think; then I went to the judge and told him about it. He informed the authorities.”
Al-Ghamdi continued, “Four days later, the developer came back to me. This time he asked me to bring the original document so he could make the changes to it. I told him that was impossible and he then offered me SR2 million.” Al-Ghamdi cooperated with the authorities who arrested the real estate developer. Officers had recorded the conversation between him and Al-Ghamdi and as a result, he is now in jail.
“I found out that the land he was talking about was worth SR100 million and the reason he chose me to abet him in this crime was my low salary. He told me that if I helped him my life would change forever and improve completely,” Al-Ghamdi said.
