- JEDDAH: Shareholders in the Venice Islands project on Tuesday were happy over the acquittal of the project owner, Saudi businessman Saleh Al-Diraibi, by the Court of Grievances in Riyadh on Monday.
- He was cleared of all charges against him, including forging official papers in order to obtain the land for the project.
The verdict also acquitted former undersecretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Dr. Osama Abu Ghararah and the former director of domestic trade, Ibrahim Al-Harbi. The Court of Grievances sentenced a number of employees in the Commerce Ministry to a year of imprisonment and fines while others were only fined.
The case, which has been in litigation for about four years, was referred by the Grand Court in Jeddah to the Court of Grievances in Riyadh as the court procedures entailed the appearance of the project owner before the court and embodied the disclosure of more details, especially after the project was sold for more than SR1.8 billion to a Saudi-Qatari consortium. All 15,000 investors were reimbursed for the value of their investments.
The court acquitted the defendant of being involved in any forgery and having no knowledge of it. The project, which was sold out, extended over 36 million square meters.