RIYADH, 26 January 2008 — The “Conscience Clearance Account,” a special fund operated by Saudi Credit Bank has received donations worth SR146 million.
The charitable account was established in June 2005 with the aim of facilitating any Saudi citizens and expatriates who desired to return any illegally earned state money they had with them.
Muhammad Al-Wahbi, trustee of the account, said that a former Egyptian expatriate had prompted the government to issue the order to open the new account. The money deposited in the account is spent to help poor citizens to fulfill their needs, such as wedding and house repair, and to help solve their difficult financial situations.
The trustee said the largest single donation so far deposited in the account was SR25 million.
The account distributed 2,000 loans involving SR56 million until the end of last year, Riyadh newspaper quoted Wahbi as saying on Wednesday.
He said, “the donations are made under total confidentiality and the donor would never be held responsible for the illegal source of the money through which he earned it.”
Any one who is eligible for the soft loans of the credit bank is eligible for loans of this fund.
Giving more details on the starting of the account, Wahbi said, “The royal order to set up the account was issued when an Egyptian informed the king that he desired to return a huge sum which he earned illegally while working in the Kingdom.”
The order made it clear that the donor would not be held responsible in any way because he volunteered to return the money. All his details would be guaranteed utmost secrecy, he said.
He added that the account was ready to accept any amount even if it was from outside the country.
Meanwhile Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, member of the Shoura Council and adviser at the Ministry of Justice, appealed to all those who appropriated public money in an illegal manner to repent and return the money by depositing in the “Conscience Clearance Account.”
“The encouraging response to the account also proves that the religious sentiment prevailing in the society is capable of making people repent and come forward with their illegally earned wealth,” Al-Obaikan observed.
The expert on religious law described the account as an unprecedented positive move.
