Saudi Arabia arrests 32 suspects in corruption case

Riyadh: The anti-graft authorities of Saudi Arabia have arrested thirty-two people as part of the investigation in a corruption worth 11.6 billion riyals ($3.1billion).

"The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) in cooperation with the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) caught hold of a group, including foreign residents, bank employees and businessmen involved in deposit and transfer of a lump-sum amount from an unknown source to outside the kingdom," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the authority arrested five suspects while they were heading to a bank to deposit over 9.7 million Saudi riyals, seven businessmen, 12 bank employees, seven other individuals for their involvement in bribery, forgery and money laundering.

The higher committee, NAZAHA was launched in 2017 to fight corruption in the Kingdom with the objectives of preventing these violations. Earlier, the authority stated that it will continue to pursue anyone who exploits public office to achieve personal gain or harm the public interest, in any way possible.

Saudi Arabia has been fighting against corruption in the last few years as part of the efforts to protect its economy.