Riyadh court convicts three for commercial fraud

RIYADH: An administrative court in Riyadh convicted a Saudi and two Arab expats for violating the AntiCommercial Concealment Law.

A fine was imposed, and the expats will be deported and prevented from re-entering the Kingdom.

They were found to have been involved in preparing and filling fake dates by using a polluted swimming pool south of Riyadh, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment said Friday. Acting on a tip-off, the ministry raided the site.

The inspection team found large quantities of dates and dried fruit in toilets and labor rooms, as well as leaflets and counterfeit containers designed to deceive consumers. The inspectors saw laborers stuffing dates with nuts and dried fruit, then packaging them with forged labels of famous brands.

During the investigation, the defendants admitted using the bank account of the establishment, which was registered under the Saudi’s name.

The seizures included eight machines for packing and wrapping dates, 180 cartons of dates with almonds, 45 cartons used for packing, 150,000 labels bearing the words “High Quality Dates,” and the Sukkary Dates label.

The investigation revealed that the annual income of the defendants amounted to SR6 million ($1.6 million).

The ministry shut down the site, and the case was referred to the public prosecution and then to the administrative court.