Saudi jails 28 people for money laundering

A Saudi court has handed down various prison sentences to 28 defendants in a money laundering case and confiscated a total of 16 billion riyals ($4.26 billion).

The prosecution said in a statement that investigations into 38 defendants revealed that money laundering was used to give a legitimate cover to major illicit activities that yielded large profits.

Saudi nationals as well as expatriates were tried in the case.

According to Gulf News, the convicted Saudis will not be allowed to travel abroad after serving their jail terms and the expatriates will be deported after serving their sentences.

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Saudi law stipulates that a Saudi national convicted of involvement in money laundering is not allowed to travel after serving their prison sentence for a period equal to their sentence.

Jail terms for money laundering can be up to 15 years, in addition to fines of up to 1 million Saudi riyals ($0.27 million).