JEDDAH, 28 May 2008 — A court in Jeddah yesterday ruled that Ahmad Al-Seraisry, a stockbroker accused of cheating more than SR800 million out of his clients, must pay SR45 million to a group of his aggrieved clients, who have gone after him in 19 different group lawsuits.
The court passed the judgment citing the documents of evidence produced by the victims. The defendant denies the charges against him and is seeking to appeal in the Court of Cassation.
Judge Abdul Aziz Al-Shathri ordered last month Al-Seraisry to pay SR76 million to another group of litigants. On that occasion he expressed his willingness to cooperate with the court, which appointed a commission for the appraisal of his properties and auction them to settle his clients’ accounts.
The commission estimated that his properties in Madinah and Jeddah had a combined value of SR300 million. It was also reported that several of his clients had a meeting with Al-Seraisry and that he agreed to return their money.
He promised to repay all the money in 24 hours but on condition that all the charges against him dropped with immediate effect.
But the court did not agree with the condition because there were 20 pending cases against him in the court.
The summary court had earlier sentenced Al-Seraisry to 15 years in jail and 1,000 lashes and imposed on him a fine of SR1 million.
