The Saudi Arabian Oversight and Anti-corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced Sunday the arrest of the CEO of the Royal Commission for Al Ula, a historical oasis in the Medina province located in the north-west of the kingdom, Amr bin Saleh Abdulrahman Al Madani, on charges of money laundering and abuse of authority.
According to Nazaha, the charges against Al Madani involve “illegally obtaining contracts” worth 206,6 million Saudi riyals ($55.1 million) from a government institute for a company he owns. Later, he allegedly received a further 1,298 million Saudi riyals ($347,000) after acquiring projects from the Royal Commission for Al Ula. The organisation also said Al Madani obtained “personal benefits from contracting companies with the Commission, as well as receiving profits from those projects through one of his relatives.”
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman declared a war on corruption in September 2023, a mission taken upon by the Nazaha, with the objective to strengthen transparency in the government institutions under the kingdom’s Vision 2030 which aims to “adopt wide-ranging transparency and accountability reforms and, through the body set up to measure the performance of government agencies, hold them accountable for any shortcomings”.
While the “war on corruption” is an important step for Saudi Arabia to achieve the objectives set out by the Vision 2030, some say it may be cause for alarm as the kingdom has previously been condemned for its crackdown on online expression. In August 2023, Mohammad Al Ghamedi was arrested and sentenced to death for speaking against corruption on social media, with the UN urging the revocation of the death sentence.
Nazaha announced at the beginning of the year the number of cases and investigations for December 2023 involving crimes of corruption such as bribery, abuse of authority, money laundering and forgery, with 141 people arrested.
Al Madani and other detainees involved in the incidents await trial as legal procedures are being conducted “in line with the laws and regulations.” Nazaha further reaffirmed its commitment to combat corruption within public offices.
