The Ministry of Commerce has defamed a citizen who concealed an expat of Indian nationality after a court ruling was issued convicting them of violating the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law. The citizen has enabled the resident to practice the activity of detergent trade in Riyadh, under the name of the citizen’s establishment against SR 1500 per month.
The Ministry has published a summary of the judicial ruling issued by the Criminal Court in Riyadh, including a fine of 20 thousand riyals, closing the facility, liquidating its trade activity, cancelling the license, writing off the commercial registration and preventing the citizen of practicing the same trade activity, collecting zakat, fees and taxes, and deporting the expat from the Kingdom and not to be allowed to return for work, besides defamation by publishing the ruling in a local newspaper at the expense of the violators.
In details, MC inspection teams suspected a case of commercial concealment. After carrying out the necessary investigation, the results showed that the expat was practicing a commercial activity by trading in detergents (shampoos, soaps, etc.) and he was working for his own account under the name of the citizen’s Est.
Notably, the new Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, which was recently approved by the Council of Ministers, relied on mechanisms that would contribute to eliminate the sources of commercial cover-up and to put an end to the shadow economy.
The new law included heavy penalties of up to five-year imprisonment, a fine of up to five million riyals, seizure and confiscation of the illegal funds of the perpetrators after a final court ruling, in addition to other penalties, including closing the facility, liquidating the trade activity, canceling the commercial registry and preventing the convicted person from practicing any economic activity for a period of five years, besides deporting the expat from the Kingdom and not to be allowed to return for work.
The Ministry of Commerce calls on all those interested to lodge their complaints and reports relevant to commercial concealment through MC Consumer Call Center (1900), or through the application of a Commercial Violation Report, or via the Ministry’s website. Notably, a reward of up to 30% of the total fines to be granted to the informer after collection, which may reach to five million riyals against each violator.