The administrative court in Dammam has ordered convicted Saudi fraudster Juma Al-Juma to repay 240 investors SR70 million.

A total of 8,900 people with a combined investment estimated at SR1.06 billion have sued Al-Juma. Most of them filed lawsuits individually while others decided to claim their rights collectively.

Lawyer of the 240 investors, Meshaal Al-Sharif, said this was the highest payout ordered since the court began to issue rulings in favor of shareholders in Al-Juma's bogus investment scheme.

He said these rulings are final because they were based on 1,000 verdicts involving hundreds of shareholders and upheld by the Court of Appeal in the Eastern Province. Al-Sharif urged investors to sue Al-Juma to get their money back.

Al-Juma owns assets exceeding the equity of shareholders, Al-Sharif said quoting data released by a government department. The accounting report reportedly showed that Al-Juma's real estate investments grew by more than 64 percent in just two years.

Judicial sources said that Al-Juma owns property inside Saudi Arabia, including land on the road to Abu Hadriyah estimated at 120,000 square meters. This includes a concrete factory over an area of 80,000 square meters, a luxury resort on an area of 40,000 square meters and luxury cars valued at SR400,000 each.

A few months ago, Al-Juma told the court that 95 percent of his investments and properties were in Sudan, and claimed he had purchased land there valued at $11 million.