TAIF: An administrative court in Jeddah has assigned more judges to look into a graft case involving 24 Taif municipal employees and two others. The reason cited was the large number of individuals involved in the case, which is called the largest bribery case being heard by a Saudi court.
One of the suspects, a municipality employee, has reportedly confessed to taking SR180,000 in bribes for issuing a license to a building that had not fulfilled the stipulated conditions.
Another man had allegedly taken SR7,500 from an expatriate worker for awarding a contract to the company where he worked. He had also allegedly demanded SR50,000 for issuing license to a firm for collecting scrap iron.
The employee, who was facing 12 charges, has been fired from his job. However, some employees found guilty of taking bribes still work with the municipality.
Another defendant is a university student who helped citizens get prime locations during distribution of public land. He allegedly assisted six women and a child to get compensation after taking SR20,000 bribe along with a municipality lawyer. The case involved tens of thousands of riyals worth of bribes.
