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Saudi Arabian authorities have imposed prison sentences or fines, payment orders and bans on 14 board members and employees of Tadawul-listed Raydan Food Co for violations including insider trading and knowingly giving a misleading impression of values in financial statements.
Four of the group – Vice Chairman Nasser bin Awadhallah bin Ahmad Alsulami and board members Khalid bin Awadhallah bin Ahmad Alsulami, Mish'al bin Awadhallah bin Ahmad Alsulami and Mansour bin Awadhallah bin Ahmad Alsulami – were sentenced to 90 days in prison.
Seven of the group, who are all connected with Raydan Food Co, formerly known Raydan Kitchens and Restaurants, should pay a total of SAR 77 million ($20 million) to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to account for losses due to illegal trading on their investment portfolios.
All 14 were subjected to fines with a combined total of SAR 50.6 million and 11 were banned from working for CMA-supervised entities for between one and three years.
A statement from the General Secretariat of Committees for Resolutions of Securities Disputes (GS-CRSD) said members of the group had participated in creating a false and misleading impression regarding a value of the security of the company and approved financial statements for 2018, 2019 and 2020 knowing they included violations.
They failed to reflect losses or decline in value on financial statements despite reservations from external auditors, the statement said.
Defendants also transferred shares between their portfolios and sold them based on inside information prior to it being released to the public in March 2022, the statement said.
The CMA said anyone affected by violations in the case can file a compensation claim with the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes (CRSD) by filing a complaint through the CMA website.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)