JEDDAH, 28 May 2005 — Some 9,000 Saudi investors heaved a sigh of relief after the authorities released the promoter of their share-holding business in which they had a combined investment of at least SR1 billion, press reports said yesterday.
The investors are optimistic that Thursday’s release of businessman Juma Al-Juma would help them get back their money which they had given him three years ago to invest in various projects within and outside the Kingdom.
According to Al-Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, the shareholders had given Juma more than SR1 billion, but other sources put the amount at SR5 billion which remained frozen since his arrest in January 2003 for alleged misuse of public money.
Juma was released on bail following a royal decree. Authorities also instructed the Court of Grievances to look into the rights of shareholders.
“I will return all the shareholders’ money and arrangements for payment will be made public shortly,” Juma told Al-Eqtisadiah soon after his release.
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) had frozen Juma’s bank accounts along with that of 24 other companies and establishments charging that their business activities were illegal as they were raising capital without proper license.
The Interior Ministry, SAMA and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry intervened to protect the rights of the shareholders in these companies, which attracted a large number of investors. The firms offered annual returns of up to 70 percent.
As many as 50,000 people have invested more than SR7 billion in these companies, Al-Eqtisadiah said.
Juma’s lawyer, Ahmed Al-Tuwaijeri, said his client was committed to returning the shareholders’ money. “In the coming days we will determine how the payment is to be made,” he added.
Soon after his release, Juma’s office was inundated with calls from investors asking for their money to be returned. Juma promised them that they would get back their money as soon as the authorities unfreeze his accounts.
According to Al-Eqtisadiah, Juma had investments worth $200 million in nearly 25 Sudanese companies specializing in various fields including agriculture, trade and investment, hotel, travel and tourism, real estate, advertising, contracting, industry, banking, engineering and information technology.
In a lawsuit filed against the three-member panel investigating the case on behalf of Juma, Al-Tuwaijeri demanded the release of his client, freeing his assets and bank accounts and SR4 billion in damages. The panel comprised representatives of the Interior Ministry, Commerce and Industry Ministry and SAMA.
Some sources said Juma had already paid back some of the shareholders’ money while he was in jail, but they did not give any figures.
The Commission for Supervision and Public Prosecution did not give any details of Juma’s case or an estimate of the sum of money in his bank accounts, which some sources put at SR1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the freezing of accounts of the 25 companies involved in the share business has caused untold sufferings to investors in these companies.
“For me the decision was like a thunderbolt,” Okaz daily quoted one victim as saying.
Misfer Al-Qahtani, who invested SR1.3 million in one of the companies, said he was expecting a quick intervention by authorities to free the accounts and end the investors’ misery.
Dr. Ali Al-Alaq, professor of economics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, said investing in unlicensed companies was risky as they don’t entail legal protection.
