A special judicial committee has been set up by the Dammam General Court to get back SR1.5 billion owed to 10,000 investors who were conned out of their money by three businessmen in the Eastern Province, according to sources.
This brings new hope to the investors who lost their money in the scam run by Hamad Al-Eid, Abdul Ghani Al-Ghamdi and their agent Qasim Al-Ajami.
They were charged with “fraud, swindling and operating other people’s money without licenses,” the illegal use of people’s money by setting up various companies, and paying sham profits to misguide investors and lure them into paying more money.
All three men were imprisoned in Dammam Prison in 2002 and released two years later.
The judicial committee that will look into getting the money back, will be led by judge Abdul Hamid Al-Badie’. The committee will investigate getting the money back from Al-Eid, whose assets were frozen 11 years ago.
The committee is seeking to handle the cases quickly by dealing with the victims as a group.
The sources added that Al-Eid faces many financial claims including from Kayan Petrochemicals and other companies. If these cases are valid, all claims including investors’ capital and profits, will be settled from Al-Eid’s available funds.
The sources said the claims would likely be accepted because Al-Eid confessed to the crimes. Investors don’t need to be present during court sessions. An official will inform them through the media about their claims.
Even though the Supreme Court issued an order for general courts to rule in these cases, the rulings were delayed because both the Dammam and Al-Khobar courts claimed they did not have jurisdiction. Al-Eid lives in Alkhobar.
The long-suffering investors had sought the help of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to intervene and get the Supreme Judicial Court to oblige general courts to look into their claims.
The Supreme Judicial Court subsequently sent the claims to the committee for the study of conflict resolution, which in turn assigned a judicial office to speed up proceedings.
New hope for fraud victims who lost SR1.5 billion in investments
