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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - RIYADH: Ten investors had been convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Law and were ordered to pay the Capital Market Authority a total of SAR 101.7 million in fines and compensation for losses, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday.

In a "final decision" the Appeal Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes, or ACRSD, sentenced one of the convicted individuals to imprisonment, the SPA report said, citing a statement by the General Secretariat of the Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes. The statement said the "final decision" was issued by the ACRSD on 11/06/1445 Hijri, corresponding to December 24, 2023.

The amount of SR101.7 million constituted SR670,000 in fines for the ten convicts and SR101 million riyals as compensation from all ten convicts and a female investor for losses resulting from the violations committed in their investment portfolios, the report added.

Named in the ruling were Mish'al bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Naif bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Ghada bint Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Sami bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Fawaz bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Jameel bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Ali bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, Fawzi bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali, and Fawzia bint Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali.

The convictions were also announced online in detail by the ACRSD and the Capital Market Authority (CMA). According to the CRSD statement, cases were filed against the ten investors by the Public Prosecution upon referral by the CMA.

In a statement posted on its website and on the social media platform X, CMA said: "One of the convicts was held responsible for making an incorrect statement in the announcement published by a listed company in the capital market. This was done to affect the price of the security or to urge others to purchase the security, in addition to his responsibility for neglecting to disclose essential developments in the company."

CMA also said some of the convicts "disclosed internal information relating to the financial position of a listed company in the capital market and the possibility of its bankruptcy," while other convicts engaged in trading based on the illegally disclosed internal information, intending to benefit from it before it was announced and made available to the general public."

In its ruling, the ACRSD ordered sentenced Fawaz bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari to six months in prison and to pay a fine SR330,000. It also banned him from working in companies, shares of which are traded in the Saudi exchange for six years.

Fawaz bin Abdullah was found by the court to have disclosed internal information relating to the financial position of Abdullah A. M. Al-Khodari Sons Co. and the possibility of its bankruptcy.

Also found guilty of disclosing internal information were Jameel bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari and Ali bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari.

Mish'al bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari was ordered to pay to the CMA account the amount of SR. 11,036,678.01 "against the avoided loses as a result of the violations committed in his investment portfolio. He was also banned from working in companies, shares of which are traded in the Saudi exchange for one year.

Sami bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari was told to pay to the CMA SR12,070,268.61; Naif bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali, SR8,482,596.89; Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, SR9,226,817.79; Ghada bint Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari, SR1,370,918.10; Fawzi bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali, SR8,116,873.04; and Fawzia bint Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alali, SR. 187,709.75. All of them were banned from working in companies, shares of which are traded in the Saudi exchange for one year.

Ali bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari imposed only a fine of SR100,000 but banned for two years from working in companies, shares of which are traded in the Saudi exchange.

"One investor to pay to the CMA the total amount of (SR. 50,581,879.82) fifty million five hundred eighty-one thousand eight hundred seventy-nine Saudi Riyals and eighty-two Halalas against the avoided loses as a result of the violations committed in its investment portfolio performed by the convicted person; Fawaz bin Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alkhudari," the ARCSD announcement said.

The GS-CRSD urged other individuals affected by the abovementioned violations to file a compensation claim with the CMA.

GS-CRSD said it will announce to the public on its website in case any class action would be filed so that other investors affected by such violations could join.