A manhunt is under way to arrest a car dealer in Madinah for his involvement in a series of financial embezzlement worth more than SR50 million targeting a number of citizens in the city, local media said.

An earlier report said a car dealer and an investor who was working in a government department jointly embezzled funds in excess of SR50 million from more than 120 citizens by convincing them they would earn quick bucks from car purchasing-and-selling transactions.

The two reportedly said they would buy 3,000 new cars at different intervals to be repaid in installments during a four-month period in profits exceeding SR7,000 for each car, Al-Madinah newspaper said.

The government employee was taken into police custody two years ago in the wake of financial claims made by the customers while the car dealer manipulated the funds following a reconciliation deal signed by two defendants in the wake of a difference between them, the newspaper said.

Mohamed Al-Juhani, one of the victims of the financial fraud, said he had filed a lawsuit at the Madinah Governorate which referred the case to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP).

The BIP proved that the car dealer defrauded a number of citizens. Accordingly, a warrant for his arrest was issued. He is now on the run and a manhunt has been launched to bring him to justice, the paper said.