Watan-A stir was caused in Saudi Arabia following the revelation of a bizarre jewelry scam, where an individual was accused of embezzling jewelry worth half a million riyals ($133,000).
Local media reported that the Financial Fraud Prosecution concluded its investigation with a Saudi citizen who seized the jewelry using delivery apps.
The investigations revealed that the accused communicated with jewelry stores through some social media apps specialized in delivery to agree with them on purchasing the jewelry.
Subsequently, the accused would send fake bank receipts before enlisting several delivery agents to collect the jewelry.
The investigations indicated that the accused would receive what he embezzled from jewelry in “unknown locations,” without disclosing further information about his identity or the areas where the fraud operations took place.
Decision from the Saudi Prosecution
The Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of the accused and referred him to the competent court to demand the prescribed penalties according to the “Anti-Financial Fraud and Breach of Trust System.”
Theft Penalty in Saudi Arabia
Saudi law classifies theft acts as criminal offenses, imposing penalties on offenders according to the type of theft committed. The legal system has set a range of guidelines to determine appropriate penalties for these crimes.
In the Saudi system, theft crimes are considered boundaries, including the punishment of amputation for the thief’s hand.
The hadd punishment for theft is not applied to all types of theft crimes; specific conditions must be met for this punishment to be applicable.
#النيابة_العامة: إيقاف مواطن احتال على ضحاياه بالاستيلاء على مجوهراتهم بقيمة نصف مليون ريال#السعودية#المواطن_11عاما pic.twitter.com/YiOUdi56Nn
— صحيفة المواطن (@almowatennet) May 13, 2024
If the required conditions for applying the hadd punishment for theft are not met in Saudi Arabia, the thief is punished with a discretionary penalty that varies according to the severity of the crime, such as flogging, imprisonment, or imposing a fine. This is done according to the judge’s discretion and the evaluation of the circumstances surrounding the crime. The thief’s punishment is subject to hadd application when the specified conditions are met.
If those conditions are not met, the thief is punished, and the judge determines the type of discretionary penalty based on the circumstances surrounding the case.