Abdullah Al-Saeedan made the comments when asked about what penal action has been taken against notaries who were involved in the illegal sale of government lands located in the pathways of flash floods and which dealt with the brunt of the Nov. 25 deluge.

“The committee, which has been set up under the orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to investigate the cause of the floods, is the only body authorized to make statements on the matter of notaries involved in the illegal sale of land,” he said.

A number of local newspapers reported on Monday that a government committee investigating four notaries and a number of real estate agents involved in the illegal sale and registering of government land north of Jeddah has recorded the statements of those accused.

It was also reported that some of the suspects denied involvement in the matter and that the investigating committee has asked the higher authorities for further instructions on what to do with the accused.

Three notaries recently admitted in court that they were involved in the illegal sale of government land with another notary.

According to a source, the four notaries, who were employed with the Jeddah Notary Office, had been detained for a number of years for the illegal sale of government land.

The four were also involved in another case involving the Najran Notary Office in which a large chunk of government land was sold. The illegal registration enabled the new owner of the land to demand SR4 billion in compensations from the government when the government launched a huge development project on the same piece of real estate.

When the Ministry of Finance refused to pay damages, the new owners complained to the higher authorities. A committee was subsequently appointed to investigate the matter.