Officials of 6 ministries among 65 arrested for corruption in Saudi Arabia

A total of 65 people including citizens and expatriates have been arrested for their alleged involvement in corruption, Saudi Arabia’s anti-graft authority has said.

In a statement, the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) said that the accused included 48 officials and employees of the ministries of defense, interior, justice, municipal and rural affairs and housing, education, and environment, water and agriculture; the Presidency of State Security; the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection.

The charges framed against them included bribery, abuse of power and forgery, Saudi Gazette reported.

They were arrested during as many as 460 inspection raids carried out by the Nazaha teams during the current month.

The arrest of the suspects was made after carrying out investigations into the alleged role of 411 people.

Nazaha said that the legal procedures are being completed prior to referring them to courts.