Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) investigated 748 suspects in administrative and criminal cases in August.
In a Wednesday statement, Nazaha said that between August 9 and September 8, it had arrested 282 citizens and residents employed in over ten military and services sectors for their involvement in charges of bribery, abuse of office and power, and forgery.
Arrested employees worked at the ministries of defense, interior, health, justice, municipal and rural affairs, housing, environment, water and agriculture, education, human resources and social development, Hajj and Umrah, transport and logistics services.
Nazaha called for reporting any financial or administrative suspicions to protect public funds.
The number of those arrested under suspensions of corruption last month saw an increase of around 50% compared to the month before when the authority investigated 461 suspects in administrative and criminal cases and detained 207.
Nazaha has been issuing detailed lists from time to time, clarifying the number of those arrested on corruption charges and indicating the nature of the criminal cases in which they were involved.
The latest of which was a list issued on Tuesday of 20 criminal cases initiated by the authority. It included the names of 41 employees in various government sectors, including major generals and four employees of the Nazaha itself.
Legal proceedings are currently being completed against the detainees in preparation for their referral to the court.
Corruption cases varied between breaching job duties, taking bribes, and abusing job influence. Some cases also involved embezzling public money, forgery, and money laundering.
It is noteworthy that since 2019, when Nazaha’s jurisdiction was expanded by a royal decree, the process of eliminating financial and administrative corruption has gained greater momentum in Saudi Arabia.
In November 2018, Nazaha completed the recovery of nearly $107 billion in assets, companies, and cash.
