JEDDAH, 7 August — Passport Department officers in the Makkah region recently raided a Saudi limousine company in central Jeddah for allegedly employing 120 Asian drivers with forged iqamas and driving licenses.
The officers in concert with security authorities arrested 40 drivers. Orders have been given to the patrol and traffic police to arrest the remaining drivers and hand them over to the anti-forgery division of the Passport Department for questioning.
Police are looking for the Saudi owner of the company to question him. Security officers found that 112 drivers were carrying forged iqamas, 12 forged passports and 15 forged driving licenses. Police have also confiscated a bag containing official documents and forged passports.
Preliminary investigation proved that the company had taken away the iqamas from the drivers six months ago and given them stamped letters to mislead security officers. It was written in the letter that the iqamas were withdrawn for the purpose of renewing them or transferring them to the company’s sponsorship.
Col. Mohsen Al-Adwani, director of anti-forgery division at the Passport Department in the Makkah region, told Arab News that his officers stormed the building after observing its activities for 20 days.
He said the company was not having any license from the authorities to carry out its operation. “We also found that the drivers working for the company were not holding proper iqamas,” he said.
“Investigations proved that the company employed drivers with forged iqamas,” Adwani said, adding that it was not yet confirmed whether the company knew about the forgery. The drivers were not under its sponsorship. “That the company was keeping their iqamas and giving them official letters indicate its involvement in the scandal,” he added.
The company had also appointed a number of expatriates who had absconded from their original sponsors. The company had taken SR130 from each driver.
Adwani said the director general of the Passport Department had instructed them to arrest the remaining drivers and report the findings of the investigation.
The company is likely to be fined heavily for appointing employees with forged iqamas and violating iqama and labor regulations. The authorities may order closure of the company.
