JEDDAH: A Hummer SUV in a container at Jeddah Islamic Port, 36 plasma televisions, living room sets and various electronic goods were some of the items seized by Jeddah police on Monday in a sting operation that brought a bank manager and three accomplices into custody on charges of committing SR10 million in credit card fraud.
Police believe this manager of the credit card division of a local bank, a Kenyan national, was the ringmaster of an organized crime racket that involved a Nigerian intermediary orchestrating fraudulent charges for various items with the help of the Saudi and Egyptian owners of a shop inside Jeddah’s Al-Sholla Shopping Center, located on Madinah Road.
All four men are in custody after an investigation that led police to observe the men meeting in a local seaside resort. The men were living in luxury flats in posh districts of the city.
Police would not name the bank where the prime suspect worked, but said the victims of the crime are 36 “big clients” from Saudi Arabia, the United States, Australia and Belgium, according to Jeddah police spokesman Col. Misfar Al-Juaid.
The supervisor of the fraud division of the Jeddah police, Gen. Ali Al-Saadi, said the men were arrested after police monitored their activities for an unspecified period. Police said SR300,000 was charged fraudulently in the last series of transactions that eventually led to the arrests. Credit-card equipment allegedly used to make the transactions was also confiscated.
The men have allegedly confessed to their crimes and the case is being transferred to prosecutors for trial.
