The General Court in Jeddah has referred 63 individuals to the Criminal Court, including security officers of different ranks and prominent tribal leaders, who have been accused of money-laundering to the tune of SR 1.3 billion.

Local newspapers said the Criminal Court in Jeddah will soon call for a session to prosecute Abdulaziz Al-Juhani, the man accused in the case. The session will begin with the defendants being questioned over their confessions. They will be interrogated on the mechanisms they used to raise money from citizens through illegal methods.

The defendants, whose names appear in the list of charges that were included in the case referred to the court by the Commission of Investigation and General Prosecution, will be notified to appear before the court following the conversion of the case into a money-laundering one and the refusal by the Appeals Court in Makkah to accept the earlier rulings issued by the Criminal Court in Jeddah.

Investigations revealed that the accused mismanaged huge sums of amounts exceeding SR1 billion that they had collected from their victims. The money was collected in garbage bags and shifted. The returns on investment that the defendants promised, however, did not materialize.

Meanwhile, the Saudi General Prosecutor has demanded the confiscation of the seized money, along with properties of the accused. The executive judge should also begin the process of selling properties and other possessions. The defendants face severe sentences after the modification of the case by the Supreme Court to one of money-laundering.

Earlier, rulings made by the Criminal Court in Jeddah included imprisonment of more than 77 years and more than 2,090 lashes for committing fraud, swindling and wasting shareholders’ funds.