Seizures Included Checks, Official Documents and Gold Ounce
MCI continues tracing those involved in violating Anti-Commercial Concealment Law. MCI inspection teams have detected a violation to such law in a dental laboratory in Riyadh, run by an expatriate from Arab nationality. The Ministry's inspectors detected a number of documents and physical evidence to prove the involvement of a citizen of the commercial concealment, through exploiting the citizen`s trade name and commercial registration versus a percentage of profits.
The involved parties have been summoned to the Ministry to be heard regarding the suspected commercial concealment, in preparation for referring the case to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution , and then to be referred to the Bureau of Grievances to issue the final judgment.
The details go back when MCI received a notification from a citizens about the suspicion of a commercial concealment in a dental laboratory, making fixed and removable dental fixtures, where it became clear the responsibility of the expatriate in managing the lab, signing contracts, receiving and paying funds. Therefore, MCI inspectors immediately responded to the notification and conducted the necessary investigations.
During the site inspection, the inspectors had found a number of documents and papers proving that the expatriate is behaving and acting as if he were the actual owner, while the citizen has no relation or supervision over the lab, although it was registered under his name. It was proved as well that the expatriate acquired all the confidential codes for the electronic services of the lab at the government agencies.
The inspectors detected as well a number of checks for large amounts of money, related to the lab, issued by the expatriate, in addition to some gold ounce and jewelry, besides illegal labors not working under their sponsor.
This comes within the keenness and interest of MCI to take strict measures to implement all legal penalties against violators of the anti-commercial concealment law.
This step came after MCI had detected some violations in the past, and thus applying the anti-commercial concealment law and penalties, which may reach to two years' imprisonment and a fine of SR one million per violator and deporting non-Saudis from the Kingdom.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry is conducting defamation of the names of violators periodically in the local newspapers at their own expense, in addition to other penalties including the closure and liquidation of the commercial activity, writing off the commercial registration and the same business to be banned for up to five years.
MCI would like to warn all companies, commercial institutions and individuals, not to cooperate with the violators of Rules & Regulations in the Kingdom. Otherwise, they would be liable to legal and statutory penalties. MCI aims to reduce the phenomenon of commercial concealment and to create a regular, free of violation, trading environment and to enable the Saudi citizens of running business safely.
MCI also urges all citizens to report cases of anti-commercial concealment, in case evidence is found, as the Ministry grant financial reward to the collaborator, not exceeding 30% of the value of the adjudged fines after collection.
According to anti-commercial concealment law, every Saudi citizen or a foreign investor would be judged a violator if he enables a non-Saudi of running a business for his own account, whether through using the citizen`s name, license, commercial registration or in any other way. The first article of the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law stipulates that it is not permissible for non-Saudi in all cases, to practice or invest in any commercial activity, he is not authorized to invest or practice, under the foreign investment law or other laws, rules, regulations and decrees.