The Ministry of Commerce implemented a judicial ruling defaming a citizen and resident after convicting them of the crime of concealment, and the ruling issued by the Criminal Court in Riyadh included 5 penalties following the issuance of a final, conclusive ruling.
And the trade announced the defamation of the citizen Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Ruwaishid Al-Anazi and the resident, Ali bin Hassan Al-Ajeel (Syrian), after a court ruling was issued convicting them of committing the crime of concealment in the timber trade in Riyadh.
The penalties included imposing a fine and defamation of the violators at their expense, closing the facility, liquidating the activity, canceling the license, striking off the commercial register, preventing from practicing commercial activity with the collection of zakat, fees and taxes, deporting the concealed person from the Kingdom and not allowing him to return, and the fifth penalty is defamation of the incident by publishing the ruling on expense of violators.
The details of the case, which were recently announced by the Ministry, are related to controlling the incident of the citizen covering up the resident by granting him the powers to work for his own account in the timber trading activity and his absolute disposition of the institution, the behavior of the owner and the facility’s non-compliance with the standards of compliance of the facilities with the market rules approved by government agencies, as the evidence proved The citizen handed over to the resident automatic debit cards for bank accounts, the absence of work contracts that prove the contractual status between the two parties and their lack of commitment to an agreed monthly salary.
Evidence before the competent authorities showed that the crime of concealment was committed through the volume of the financial transactions of the concealed person in a way that is inconsistent with his profession and his transfer of funds resulting from his illegal activity outside the Kingdom.
Who is the sneaky and the sneaky one?
Attorney Saad Misfer Al-Maliki explained to “Okaz” that commercial concealment is a crime punishable by the system in the event that a Saudi enables a resident to practice – for his own account – an economic activity that he is not authorized to practice, and this includes enabling a non-Saudi to use his name, or license Or the approval issued to him, his commercial registration, his trade name, his bank account or the like, or the non-Saudi practicing an economic activity for his own account in the Kingdom that he is not authorized to practice, through the possible person, or participating in the commission of any of the two crimes stipulated in the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, and whoever incites, assists, or provides advice in committing the crime is considered an accomplice with his knowledge of that whenever the crime takes place or continues based on incitement, assistance, or advice, in addition to the criminalization of obstructing or preventing the practice of those charged with implementing the provisions of the system from performing their duties by any means, including by not disclosing information, or providing incorrect or misleading information.
Lawyer Al-Maliki warned that the penalty for the crime of concealment is imprisonment for a period of up to 5 years or a fine not exceeding 5 million riyals, in addition to paying zakat, taxes and imposed fees, and deporting non-Saudis, while preventing violators from practicing any commercial activity for a period of up to 5 years.
20 entities prosecuting the crime of concealment
The National Anti-Concealment Program stressed the need for all commercial establishments to comply with the standards of market rules approved by government agencies to eliminate commercial concealment, which are: the existence of a commercial register and licenses to practice activity, a bank account for the establishment, not using personal accounts in transactions, renewing activity licenses, and updating the addresses of the establishment , registration in wage protection, registration of labor wages, documenting contracts electronically, as well as not employing irregular workers, documenting financial transactions, not granting non-Saudis the tools of absolute disposal in the establishment, providing electronic payment methods, and issuing and saving invoices electronically.
