RIYADH: A female expatriate was arrested for running an interior design firm in violation of the Kingdom’s Anti-Commercial Concealment Law.

An official from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) said the arrest was made on a complaint that an expatriate woman was running a firm specialized in interior design, architecture and engineering consultation which was against commercial regulations.

During an inspection to the site, inspectors found the female expatriate to be in possession of a number of documents and other kinds of physical evidence that proved her involvement in commercial concealment activities. Specifically, she was found to have been using the trade name and commercial registration of a citizen in the architectural industry, while giving a regular percentage of his profits to the citizen for this service.

The involved parties have been summoned to the MCI for further inquiry, as per the Anti-Commercial Concealment Act.

Under this law, the offender is liable to two years imprisonment and a maximum fine of SR1 million, as well as deportation if the offender is an expatriate.

Following the inquiry, the case will be referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution and will subsequently be referred to the Bureau of Grievances for a final judgment.

It is expected that the citizen associated with the expatriate’s illegal activities will be blacklisted by the ministry, with his name publicized in the daily newspapers. Further, the business registration in question will be canceled for a period of five years.

In the light of the issue, the MCI recently released a statement warning all companies, commercial institutions and individuals not to cooperate with violators of commercial rules and regulations in the Kingdom, as such violations will invariably lead to serious legal and statutory penalties.

The MCI has also urged all citizens to report cases of commercial concealment with relevant evidence to authorities, adding that there is the opportunity for them to be rewarded for their honesty in the form of cash amounting to a maximum of 30 percent of the fines imposed on the violators.

Informants can dial the ministry’s toll free number 1900 or contact the concerned department of the ministry by fax or e-mail.