JEDDAH: The Saudi Justice Ministry has suspended a notary president, two notaries and an employee for their alleged involvement in a case of issuing a forged deed.
Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani has ordered they be put on trial.
Mansour Al-Ghafari, the ministry’s spokesman, said the ministry would stand firm against any manipulation or fraud in title deeds.
“The ministry, through follow-up mechanisms, supervision of the notary work and the procedure to verify title deeds’ authenticity, noticed manipulation in a land deed with a market value of more than SR400 million ($107 million) that was not officially recorded in the court, and the original deeds have not been found,” said Al-Ghafari, adding that the ministry “immediately took measures to investigate the matter.”
He said: “These procedures and follow-ups to the work of notaries show that the ministry is working to ensure the highest degree of reliability for deeds’ authenticity as being official documents that are not subject to illegal practices.”
He added that the ministry was cooperating with all agencies in the case and particularly with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha).
The ministry has issued a circular to all notaries instructing them not to accept any correspondence regarding the issuance of title deeds except those issued under a signed letter from the justice minister.
The circular stated that any titles issued without a written order signed by the minister would be subject to accountability and investigation of the person who issued the order and who approved the issuance.
The circular added that the president of the notary was directly responsible for referring any order to the notary that violated the instructions.
Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani has ordered they be put on trial.
Mansour Al-Ghafari, the ministry’s spokesman, said the ministry would stand firm against any manipulation or fraud in title deeds.
“The ministry, through follow-up mechanisms, supervision of the notary work and the procedure to verify title deeds’ authenticity, noticed manipulation in a land deed with a market value of more than SR400 million ($107 million) that was not officially recorded in the court, and the original deeds have not been found,” said Al-Ghafari, adding that the ministry “immediately took measures to investigate the matter.”
He said: “These procedures and follow-ups to the work of notaries show that the ministry is working to ensure the highest degree of reliability for deeds’ authenticity as being official documents that are not subject to illegal practices.”
He added that the ministry was cooperating with all agencies in the case and particularly with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha).
The ministry has issued a circular to all notaries instructing them not to accept any correspondence regarding the issuance of title deeds except those issued under a signed letter from the justice minister.
The circular stated that any titles issued without a written order signed by the minister would be subject to accountability and investigation of the person who issued the order and who approved the issuance.
The circular added that the president of the notary was directly responsible for referring any order to the notary that violated the instructions.
