JEDDAH: A Cairo court will consider on May 4 a suit against a Saudi businessman who allegedly swindled a number of Egyptians, some of them working in the Kingdom, out of 18 million Egyptian pounds, which he said would be invested in poultry.
A source at the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah, who did not want to be named, said the case dated back to a few months ago when the Saudi businessman, whose name was withheld, started collecting money in riyals and pounds from Egyptians, including some working in Saudi Arabia, after promising to invest their money in lucrative poultry projects in Egypt and to distribute monthly dividends among them.
“He stopped paying them dividends after two months,” he added.
The source said the Saudi businessman, who owns an import-export company in Egypt, disappeared after investors began demanding repayment of their funds.
He said the investors reported the case to the concerned authorities that put the businessman’s name in the blacklist at the airport preventing him from traveling out of the country.
According to the source, the alleged swindler was arrested at the airport early this month while he tried to leave the country.
He said the businessman was referred to the court for retrial after it had sentenced him in absentia to 15 years’ imprisonment.
“This is the first time a Saudi citizen was arrested on charges of swindling money from Egyptians,” he added.
The source, however, said the man expressed his readiness to reimburse all the investors’ money and could be acquitted if he kept his word.
