Saudi Arabia Issues Travel Ban for Violators of Anti-Commercial Fraud Law

Saudi Arabia moves to prevent violators of anti-commercial fraud law from traveling. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia moves to prevent violators of anti-commercial fraud law from traveling. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Issues Travel Ban for Violators of Anti-Commercial Fraud Law

Saudi Arabia moves to prevent violators of anti-commercial fraud law from traveling. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia moves to prevent violators of anti-commercial fraud law from traveling. (SPA)

Saudi authorities allowed the Public Prosecution to issue a travel ban against the violators of the provisions of the anti-commercial fraud law until the final verdict is issued in the case.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the top authorities directed the Ministry of Interior to deport any non-Saudi convicted of committing any violations stipulated in Article Two of the law and bar them from entering the country again.

The government recently issued amended articles of the law adopted in the Kingdom allowing the Public Prosecution to issue a travel ban against any violator.

The cabinet had reviewed a recommendation prepared by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs. After considering the Shura Council’s decision and the recommendation of the Council’s General Committee, it issued approval to amend Article 23 of the system to comply with the state’s directions and combat violators of the law.

Judicial officers search and investigate the reports and then withdraw samples of the products in question for examination and analysis and issue a statement.

They can also enter and inspect facilities, storage places, and vehicles to investigate the violation and ultimately destroy the product.

Fines against violators of the law can reach $266,000 or imprisonment for a period of up to 3 years or both.

The Ministry of Commerce stressed its aim to protect consumer rights and apply legal penalties to establishments that violate the law.

It urged all consumers to submit their reports about violating facilities through the application of a “commercial fraud notification” or the Call Center at 1900 or the Ministry's official website.



Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
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Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

The Biden administration is ready to release more oil from the US strategic stockpile to stop any jump in petrol prices this summer, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein told the newspaper that oil prices are "still too high for many Americans” and he would like to see them “cut down a little bit further.”

Hochstein, speaking to the FT said that the US would "continue to purchase into next year, until we think that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has the volume that it needs again to serve its original purpose of energy security."

The Energy Department this year has been buying about 3 million barrels of oil per month for the SPR after selling 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The move was an effort to curb gasoline prices that spiked to more than $5.00 a gallon, but it also reduced the reserve to its lowest level in 40 years.

Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters that the US could hasten the rate of replenishing the SPR as maintenance on the stockpile is completed by the end of the year.