An Arab national has been tracked down for having exploited a mentally-ill Saudi citizen for the last 17 years, local media said.

The expat reportedly established a company in Riyadh in the name of the Saudi sponsor, who is a mentally-ill patient, and used it to import and sell car fabrics and leather items, Al-Jazirah daily said, quoting sources from the Ministry of Commerce.

The foreign worker also accrued debts for the company amounting to SR2 million, the sources said.

The ministry has since shut down the company and has summoned those responsible for investigation. The case has now been referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) to fulfil all remaining legal procedures in this case, the paper said.

Earlier, the ministry received a notification from the victim’s son saying the expatriate exploited the health condition of his father, which he could not discover earlier because of his young age.

The Arab national transferred ownership of the company to another citizen and fled, leaving him under debts of SR2 million, the son told investigators.

After an exhaustive research, the ministry detected the location of the expatriate and uncovered many things, including feasibility studies, documents, stamps and cheques, as he ran the company from an apartment located in southern part of the city.

The inspectors also found the sale contract of the company to the second party which stipulated that the second party should bear all local and foreign debts owed by the company, taking into consideration that the debts were paid by the sons and brothers of the first citizen who was considered, based on a medical report, a mentally ill and bears no responsibility of his actions, the paper said.

The expatriate confessed that he had owned shops in Riyadh, Dubai and other Arab countries as well as a factory in India. He also possessed large investments in funds and accounts in foreign banks, the paper said.