Supervisory teams of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce in cooperation with 20 government agencies, carried out extensive inspection tours of facilities suspected of committing crimes and violating the anti-commercial concealment law. The inspections were based on information collected from data analysis and artificial intelligence.
Different kinds of establishments were targeted during the inspections in various cities and governorates across the Kingdom, such as stores selling: auto spare parts, fabrics, furniture, ready-made clothes and cosmetics.
The Saudi Ministry of Commerce referred the owners of the facilities that violated the anti-commercial concealment law to the concerned authorities to impose legal penalties against them.
The legal penalties include a prison sentence of up to 5 years, a fine of 5 million riyals, and the seizure and confiscation of illegal funds after the final judicial rulings against those involved are issued. Additionally, there are ancillary penalties prescribed by law, which include: closing the facility, liquidating its activities, removing it from the commercial register, prohibiting it from continuing business, collecting zakat, fees and taxes, and expelling concealed workers from the Kingdom permanently.