A manhunt is on to catch a Saudi man who defrauded 260 citizens in Madinah who invested in his bogus company he set up on the internet, local media said. The man claimed that his company was working in financial investments and swindled investors out of SR400 million. He reportedly fled with the money to Dubai, a local daily reported.

Speaking to the newspaper, a number of investors said they had paid their shares in the company through brokers who got their commissions, but later said the owner of the company could not be contacted. They discovered that the owner had fled to Dubai.

Lawyer Abdullah Hamza said some citizens who live in Madinah complained they were exposed to fraud of a company run by a government employee. When asked about his attempt to amass of quick fortune, the owner of the company said that he has an online investment company, the lawyer said.

To prove the legality of his activity, the fictitious investor showed a certificate of commercial registration to his clients in the hope that they would deposit funds into the bank account of his company, the lawyer said.

The crime committed by the man falls in the category of fraud and since he has fled the Kingdom, a request for his arrest has to be made to Interpol. Once arrested, he would be extradited to the Kingdom to stand trial, the lawyer said.

Last week, a similar case surfaced in the city when a car dealer was charged with financial fraud worth more than SR50 million targeting a number of citizens in the city. The car dealer and an investor who was working in a government department jointly defrauded funds in excess of SR50 million from more than 120 citizens by convincing them they would earn quick money from car purchasing-and-selling transactions.