Economy Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption efforts paying off By Gavin Gibbon and Megha Merani February 17, 2025, 7:59 AM Shutterstock/Hris Saudi anti-corruption investigators looked into more than 50,000 cases in Riyadh between 2016 and 2023 Bribery the top offence Abuse of influence second 1,708 arrests last year Bribery and abuse of influence are the leading corruption offences in Saudi Arabia’s public sector, according to a new report. Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), formed in 2011, arrested 1,708 people last year on corruption charges, according to legal, risk and regulatory advisory company Secretariat. Charges included embezzlement, money laundering, forgery and misuse of public funds, Secretariat said. Departments with the most cases were interior, health, education, and municipalities and housing, “It is clear that you're being held to account if you abuse your position of power, if you abuse your position of influence and if you take money in return for giving out favours or contracts,” said Ralph Stobwasser, managing director at Secretariat. In one of the most high-profile crackdowns on corruption in the kingdom over the last decade, several prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers and business people were arrested and detained at Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton hotel in 2017, a move that drew international scrutiny but was popular domestically. “If you have slippage or leakage of even just a few percent of a trillion, you're talking billions,” said Stobwasser. “Sometimes it needs a very public case to underscore that point and send the message home.” End of ‘blank cheque’ culture for Saudi consultancy ‘Few other nations have dared to attempt this’ Saudi Arabia’s biggest bank wants wealthy depositors back After years of languishing at around 53 points out of 100, Saudi Arabia improved seven points to 59 in 2024 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, which is a global indicator of public sector corruption. A score of zero indicates highly corrupt. The global average last year was 43. The Nazaha Law, which came into effect in November last year, extends to private sector companies in cases involving bribery, fraud and financial misconduct, particularly when dealing with government contracts or funds. “For Saudi Arabia to show that it is serious and successful in its efforts to counter corruption, that is going to be an important signal to the global investment community and to companies globally,” said Stobwasser. A report from the Middle East Council on Global Affairs also looked at the role of wasta – an Arabic word for personal connections – in business dealings, an issue that is deeply embedded in the region’s commercial culture. “Wasta is a major concern across the Middle East, where personal ties often outweigh professional ethics, codes of conduct, or conflict of interest rules,” said Robert P Beschel Jr, a senior fellow at the Council and one of the authors of the Secretariat report. “There are grey areas – like whether dining with a bidder is improper – but those of us focused on fighting corruption are more concerned about 'black and white' cases, like bribery and secret payments to influence contracts,” he said.
