JEDDAH, 25 July 2006 — A group of Saudi investors have filed a complaint against a hotel services company in Jeddah alleging that they were duped into an investment scam, the daily Al-Watan reported.
The fraud allegations involve possibly faked documents, sketchy bank transfers, tens of millions of stolen riyals, a fugitive and possibly hundreds of innocent investors.
Due to the pending investigation, neither the name of the company in the alleged scam nor the name of its high-profile owner has been revealed. The names mentioned are merely those who have filed the complaint. The only indication of the identity of this company is that it was involved in the hotel industry and had offices in the city’s upmarket Tahlia Street.
Investors have discovered that their money has vanished after the manager of the company had fled the country. The doors to the company’s offices have been shuttered. Authorities are investigating some of the company’s former employees as well as some of the investors.
“The company continued to distribute profits for six months and all of a sudden and without any reason, it stopped,” said jilted investor Abdullah Muraize. “When we visited the company location, we were shocked to see that it was closed down and the company manager, an Arab national, has left the country. We discovered that the company’s account information and their money transfers were done in a way that is against the banking system.”
In an attempt to attract investors, the bereaved investors say the manager showed them documents allegedly proving the company belonged to a well-known personality. The report did not identify this personality.
Muraize said he engaged in due diligence and confirmed that the personality was registered as the company’s owner. He also thought that the company’s prestigious location — in Tahlia Street, which is considered Jeddah’s version of Rodeo Drive — was an indication of its legitimacy.
Yahya ibn Ali, owner of a real estate office, said that he sank SR67 million in this company.
“Many Saudi investors trusted me with their money to invest in this company. I transferred the money to this company and I have all the evidence and documents to prove this,” said Ali. “At first the work was good. The company gave us the profit for the first two months ... now many people are chasing me to get their money back.”
Another victim, Abdul Elah Al-Johani, said that he was involved with this company for more than SR43 million. He took the money from more than 800 other investors and decided to put the money in this company. He said that he was shocked when the company closed its doors. He is now facing more than 800 investors that are asking him to return their money.
