Saudi judge ordered to pay back SR2.6m owed to citizen

A Saudi court ordered a judge to return SR2.6 million in money he had borrowed from a citizen to invest in a side business he had been operating.

Ahmad Al-Sidairy, the lawyer who represented the citizen in court, said the judge owed his client SR4 million, which he had paid to him in 2012 to support his real estate business.

The judge doubled as a real-estate broker in evening hours.

“My client had asked the judge to return the money but the judge only paid back a meager portion of the amount and that too after numerous requests. My client filed a lawsuit against the judge in a court in Riyadh for not paying back his debt,” said Al-Sidairy.

He said the judge’s defense was that he had received the money not as a loan but as an investment in his business.

“The court issued an initial verdict in favor of my client. It asked the judge to pay back my client SR2.6 million. The judge filed an appeal at a Madinah court challenging the verdict. He submitted falsified documents to prove that the money was not a loan and that he has no obligation to pay anything back to my client,” said Al-Sidairy.

He said the Court of Appeals reviewed the case and upheld the verdict in favor of his client, obliging the judge to pay back SR2.6 million.

“The verdict is final. If the judge presents new evidence and claims in relation to the case, he should file a new lawsuit,” said Al-Sidairy.

This article was first published by the Saudi Gazette on November 29, 2016.