Labor Minister Adel Fakeih’s signature was forged

The case of bribery and forging Labor Minister Adel Fakeih’s signature in order to issue more than 1,000 permits to Pakistani workers, involved three government employees from the ministries of higher education, water and electricity, and labor. Sources said one of the three employees was an academic at King Abdulaziz University and the other was working at the General Establishment for Water Desalination.

However, the mastermind of the plan is an “official authority” in the Ministry of Labor. There were also three businessmen involved in the case, it was revealed. The accused is a “responsible official” and was constantly following up through his own mobile phone calling for expediting the process of issuance of permits, it was said.

The public prosecutor refused to accept the denial of one of the defendants saying that it could not be verified due to lack of evidence and urged the court to book the accused under the anti-bribery and anti-forgery laws. The court has been adjourned to the next session where the accused will get another opportunity to defend their cases. The Jeddah Governorate Administrative Court has called on the accused to state their defense in writing against the accusations, which include administrative corruption, mediation with the businessmen and the forging of official documents regarding the issuing of work permits.

They were also asked to prove that the evidence presented against them was incorrect. Sources said there is a fourth party who was involved in the forging of the official papers but he remains unidentified. It is to be noted the Administrative Court decided to delay investigating the official who forged the signature of the minister because he was not present at the first hearing.

However, this session was attended by the three businessmen.

All the accused have been freed on bail for the present, with the understanding that they will attend the next court session.

 
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