Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s anti-graft watchdog said 122 people, including health officials and brokers, were arrested for bribery, forgery and money laundering after they were involved in a COVID-19 vaccine racket, local media reported.
The suspects, including nine officials of the Health Ministry, 21 brokers and 92 COVID-19 vaccine sceptics or hesitants, mostly Saudis, reportedly admitted to illegally changing the vaccination status on official applications, without the people taking the jab.
The conmen set up web pages to charge their victims between SR600 and SR1,000, claiming they could modify the vaccination status on official applications to “COVID-19 vaccinated” and obtain a health passport without the need to take the jab, bypassing the established procedures for vaccination.
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Cairo: Saudi authorities have announced arresting several ex-officials and businessmen in a number of graft cases as part of a relentless crackdown on corruption in the kingdom.
They were arrested in connection with several cases involving bribes and financial irregularities, the kingdom’s anti-graft watchdog disclosed.
The suspects include a plenipotentiary minister who had previously served as an ambassador in an African country, a source at the Saudi Control and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazah) said.
The diplomat is suspected of having unlawfully issued 203 visas and obtained SR3,000 for each, amassing a total of SR609,000 in one year, the watchdog said, according to the Saudi news agency SPA.