Saudi Arabia detains hundreds of public servants over corruption claims

Saudi Arabia has detained 143 people across six government ministries over corruption claims, reported on Friday by the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha).

According to a statement posted on Twitter, the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority confirmed that the detentions came after investigating 544 employees across six ministries throughout February.

The statement said some of the detainees were released on bail, noting that most of the culprits were accused of bribery, exploiting positions, misuse of power, and forgery.

The statement also shared that the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority carried out 5,072 inspection tours across the ministries.

From time to time, Saudi announces the detection of corruption cases across its ministries and authorities, with junior and senior employees and officials involved, along with businesspeople and security staff.

According to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in 2017, the kingdom detained tens of businesspeople and princes and "regained" $65.8 billion from them.

The recovered money equals around 20 per cent of the country's annual oil revenues.