An official from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the illegal activities were unearthed during an inspection tour to detect those involved in violation of the anti-commercial concealment law.

An Asian expatriate was held responsible for managing the unlicensed site. Banking transactions had been carried out on the personal account of the expatriate, and contracts for delivering the counterfeit paints to a number of housing projects were detected, as well as delivery receipts.

“The ministry’s inspection team efforts resulted in uncovering commercial concealment and fraud issues by detecting illegal laborers, who were working on their own by marketing adulterated paints in Al-Aredh quarter, north of Riyadh,” an official from the MCI said.

The inspectors seized large quantities of poor-quality paints bearing counterfeit trademarks. The site was shut down and those responsible were summoned for investigation and and imposition of legal penalties against them.

The ministry made the inspection on a complaint from one of the neighboring companies, stating that some laborers were marketing paints bearing famous trademarks at low prices. MCI carried out the necessary verification immediately.

The detected and seized quantities included more than 500 barrels of paints bearing counterfeit trademarks, in addition to large quantities of poorly made paints and paint mixes, ready to be filled and distributed to shops. The raids were conducted in cooperation with security officials.

In an earlier incident, inspectors closed down a similar factory in Shifa district which was producing paints using primitive methods flouting health and environmental regulations.

The official said that such inspections are carried out and well-publicized in the interests of consumers to be more aware of the current market.

Consumers have been requested to report their complaints and observations to the notification center at the ministry through the toll-free number 1900.