The businessman involved in the scam has been behind bars following complaints of cheating and swindling by several victims.
Muhammad Abdullah said that the businessman had failed to implement the court order to refund the money in three installments. Abdullah deposited SR1.58 million in a gold manufacturing business launched by another Saudi citizen seven years ago. Later, his two sisters, 55-year-old Hameeda and 40-year-old Noura, also invested in the business by buying 140 shares each, amounting to SR300,000.
They had been lured to make the investments, believing the promise of the businessman that they would be given an attractive profit on an annual basis. But the businessman failed to keep his promise.
“We contacted him frequently to get the profit or at least the money back. But we came to know that he had been imprisoned nearly five years ago because of the complaints filed by a number of victims,” he said.
Abdullah and his sisters filed a petition at the General Court in Makkah, asking the court’s intervention to get the money back. The court referred the case to the Court of Grievances in Makkah.
During the hearing of the case, the accused businessman’s lawyer admitted that his client had accepted the money from the man and his sisters. Consequently, the court settled the case with a mutual agreement, obliging the businessman to refund the money to Abdullah in three installments.
Regarding the investments of Hameeda and Noura, separate dates were fixed to refund the full amount. “But the businessman failed to fulfill his commitments. As a result, we now lead a miserable life and struggle to make ends meet,” Abdullah said.
