Saudi authorities have arrested a senior official at the kingdom’s defence ministry for allegedly receiving a SAR 1 million ($267,000) bribe and seeking to “facilitate irregular procedures”, according to the state-run SPA news agency.
“The official sought to facilitate irregular procedures for the disbursement of financial dues to a company, taking advantage of his professional influence,” noted a statement quoting Saudi attorney general Sheikh Saud al-Mujib.
According to SPA, two other individuals involved in the case have also been taken into custody. No further details on these additional suspects was given.
Al-Mujib said the crime was “serious and severe” because of the breach of public and military trust in the officials.
Combating corruption has been a focus of the Saudi government in recent months. An anti-corruption drive led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman saw the arrests of hundreds of billionaires, royals and bureaucrats, many of whom had to pay significant settlement amounts before being released.
According to the government, the deals brought in over $100 billion to Saudi state coffers.
Additionally, in March Saudi King Salman ordered the creation of specialised departments in the public prosecutor’s office to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases.
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