A Verdict Issued Including Imprisonment, Fine, Defamation, C.R. Writing off, Liquidation and Prevention of Trade Activity
MCI has defamed a citizen and an Asian expatriate after the Criminal Court in Riyadh had issued a judgment against them because they were found guilty of violating the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law. The citizen had enabled the expat to practice the business in furniture.
The sentence included a fine of SR 200,000, two-month imprisonment for the expat with deportation from the Kingdom, and not to be allowed to return for work, besides shutting down the Est., writing off the C.R. , liquidation of the trade activity, prevention of practicing business, defamation and publishing the verdict in a local newspaper at the expense of the violators.
MCI explained that all the evidences proved that the defendants had violated the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, where the citizen had enabled the expat of practicing trade activity by using the citizen’s name and C.R. The expat was caught trying to smuggle one million riyals abroad illegally. Accordingly, the defendants and the amount had been referred to the competent authorities for taking the necessary legal measures.
In accordance with the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, a non-Saudi shall not in any case practice or invest in any trade activity, he is not licensed to practice or invest in it. Any citizen enables a non-Saudi to invest in any trade activity, he is prohibited to invest in, whether by using the citizen’s name, license or CR, will be considered a concealer and a violator of the regulations.
MCI has been endeavoring to detect and control any concealment cases, besides taking stern measures and imposing legal penalties that may reach to two-year imprisonment, a fine of 1 million riyals for each offender, deporting the expat from the Kingdom, defaming the names of violators in the local newspapers at their own expense, in addition to writing off the CR, liquidation of trade activity and prevention of practicing the trade activity.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry has been implementing the initiative under the National Program for Combating the Commercial Concealment. This is part of MCI initiatives within the National Transformation Program 2020, based on the implementation of 6 main measures to combat the commercial concealment, which is considered one of the main causes of the commercial fraud and unemployment.
These measures including the monitoring of the sources of funds by making the opening of bank accounts obligatory, and the need to deal with invoices, which reduces foreign remittances, also providing accurate information on the violating commercial practices, as well as treating each case individually. This is to combat the commercial concealment and to boost investment, also to upgrading the services provided to the consumer, besides consolidating the efforts among the government agencies to combat the commercial concealment, in addition to nationalization of jobs and providing fair competition in the commercial sector, so that to make the Saudi market an attractive environment for investors.
The Ministry has been working to combat the commercial concealment in all sectors and activities through several stages, starting with the retail sector and then the construction sector, as these sectors constitute the highest percentage of commercial concealment cases, followed by the rest of other sectors.
The Ministry aims to combat the phenomenon of commercial concealment and to create a commercial and regular environment free from irregularities, besides enabling the citizens to do business safely.