“The Council of Senior Scholars has not received any complaints against the judge at the Madinah General Court from the committee that investigates financial corruption,” said a statement from the Ministry of Justice.

“However, the council has appointed on its own initiative a judicial inspector to investigate and ensure the conduct of judges at the court in Madinah is proper. The inspector is also investigating the credibility of media reports that the judge told the media that he was bewitched. The judge in question has also denied making any statement on this issue,” it added.

It was reported earlier that police were investigating the judge for allegedly accepting SR200 million in bribes through a mediator for issuing land ownership deeds.

The statement concluded with a warning to the media reminding them that the ninth clause of the Press and Publications Regulations stipulate that events under investigation and in court should not be published without the permission of a competent authority. “Issues under investigation such as this are not legally permitted to be meddled with and published in the media without any justification,” it said.

The Council of Senior Scholars is the body with official permission to investigate judges and their violations, the statement said.

Press reports, earlier, alleged that 16 court, municipality and Ministry of Agriculture employees were involved in the scam, and that Interpol had been contacted for help in bringing some of the accused who fled the country back to the Kingdom. They said preliminary investigations showed that the cash had been transferred to the judge's account in installments.

Informed sources said the mediator who paid the amount had escaped to Turkey at the end of August after security officers raided the judge’s office in Madinah to gather evidence relating to the scam and arrest involved officials.