The CIB has referred the cases against them to the Administrative Court in Jeddah. The charges against them included taking bribes, forgery, abuse of power, misusing public funds, and embezzlement, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Administrative Court held two separate sessions during which the accused were briefed on the charges against them. The court will hold its next session in March. The accused included engineers, government officials, businessmen and land brokers.
It brings the number of suspects accused of involvement in bribery and misappropriation of public funds in connection with the flood disaster to 20. Earlier, six senior officials including an assistant mayor, accused by CIB of taking bribes for transactions related to the Jeddah floods, were taken into custody but released later on bail.
The Administrative Court recently returned their files to the Prosecution and Investigation Commission after coming to the conclusion that there was no evidence to substantiate the charges against them by the prosecution.
They were accused of accepting bribes worth over SR5 million, misuse of power and involvement in illegal trade. Agencies probing the flood disaster recently filed charges against some of these suspects, accusing them of being involved in money laundering. The Jeddah general court is currently examining the case.
There are a total of 332 suspects who have already been charged with various crimes linked to the flood disaster that turned into catastrophe in Jeddah on Nov. 25, 2009. These suspects included six senior officials of Jeddah municipality as well as several officials in the government and private sectors in addition to consultants, engineers, technicians, contractors and businessmen.
Jeddah’s summary court is looking into a number of criminal cases framed against the suspects while the administrative court is examining several cases pertaining to administrative and financial violations.
A number of suspects have already confessed to committing various administrative and financial violations. The investigation teams, comprising professional and experienced investigators, carried out a thorough probe into the various factors that caused the flooding to turn into a total catastrophe, killing more than 100 people and destroying or damaging thousands of vehicles and houses.
