Five former officials in the Eastern Province’s education directorate are being investigated by the local board of grievances over hiring female employees illegally, many of whom were found to be related to them.

Judicial sources expect punishment to include prison terms and penalties for abusing their positions for personal gain.

The administrative court in Dammam looked into the lawsuit against the five officials, who held high-ranking positions.

One of the accused, a retiree who is more senior than the other defendants, is accused of approving 500 job hires without announcing the vacancies through media sources first.

Sources said that the civil service system obliges government authorities that are subjected to its laws to inform the ministry about these vacancies and advertise them in the local media.

Employees, they said, can only be hired after making sure they are qualified for occupying these posts.

The four others were accused of being accomplices in the hiring process, in addition to appointing relatives to several posts. One of the defendants had appointed his two daughters, while a third had appointed 20 of his relatives.

The defendants denied the list of charges read out by the judge. They were provided with the prosecutor’s list and given one month to repeal the charges.