DHAKA – In a high-profile security operation, two Saudis who worked at the Saudi embassy in Bangladesh were arrested over charges of corruption.
As many as 13 people were rounded up in the operation carried out jointly by the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) and the Ministry of Interior over the weekend. The arrested individuals included two security men, eight expatriates and a foreign investor.
The Saudis – who earlier worked as diplomats – were identified as Abdullah Falah Al-Shammari who is head of the consular section at the Saudi embassy in Dhaka, and Khaled Nasser Al-Qahtani, who works as deputy head of the consular section at the embassy.
Those who were arrested have been accused of intentionally colluding with foreigners to receive an amount of SR45 million in exchange for completing the issuance of work visas in the Kingdom.
Amongst the ones who were nabbed, two employees of the Ministry of Interior are accused of forcing an expatriate to sign a financial commitment, amounting to SR23 million, in favor of a foreign investor.
The arrested Bangladeshis include Muhammad Nasir Al-Din Nour, owner of a recruitment office in his hometown; Al-Amin Khan Shahidullah Khan, holder of a visit visa; Zaid U Sayed Mufi and Abul Kalam Muhammad Rafiq Al-Islam, Saudi gazette reported. The arrested individuals admitted that they were involved in the activity of visa trade in connivance with the employees of the Saudi embassy in Bangladesh.
What confirms corruption is the fact that during a raid on their residences, an amount of SR21,80,000 was found in cash, handicrafts, gold bars, and luxury vehicles, which turned out to be the proceeds from selling work visas in the Kingdom.
The anti-corruption watchdog of the Kingdom has been working on collecting evidence and vows to impose punishment on the ones involved in the corrupt practices.
