The Criminal Court in Jeddah held a new hearing on Wednesday morning in the case of a young man charged with amassing SR2 billion through money laundering.

An investigation by the Department of Economic Crimes at the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution point to the defendant’s involvement in money laundering with an estimated amount of SR1 billion through a number of fake international companies as fronts, and using a number of residents under his sponsorship to deposit suspicious amounts in a local bank.

Anti-drug authorities arrested the Saudi citizen, aged in his thirties, at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on his return from an Africa country.

The defendant explained in his argument before the court that he is a legitimate businessman who owns several officially registered international and local import and export companies, which have dealings and agreements with numerous companies in the UAE, Yemen, China and India.

He also said he belongs to a rich family with a long history in trade, claiming his father had licenses to trade in jewelry, silver and spices.

The defendant denied claims by the attorney general that he took part in money laundering crimes that violate the banking monitoring system.