Saudi Paper says final court ruling confirms SAR 17.3 mln compensation in manipulation case

Logo of Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co. 

Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co. (SPM) announced today, Jan. 5, receiving a letter from its lawyer stating that a favorable judicial ruling has been issued by the Court of Appeal in Riyadh.

The case relates to the suspected manipulation of the company’s financial statements in 2017 in relation to sale of its land.

According to a bourse filing, the ruling stipulates that the buyer is obligated to pay SAR 17.3 million to the company.

Upon receipt of the judgment, SPM will submit it to the executive authorities to complete the execution of the ruling.

The ruling’s impact will be positive on the company’s financial statements as it will increase profit by SAR 17.3 million.

In September 2021, SPM said that Riyadh Court issued a preliminary court ruling in the case of suspected manipulation of the company’s financial statements in 2017 related to the sale of its land.

In August 2020, the company uncovered a suspicious manipulation of its accounting journal entries in 2017 by the management and financial affairs department, according to the preliminary investigations, Argaam reported.

The manipulation was represented by creating fake accounting entries to write off previous receivables of SAR 25.55 million related to the sale of company-owned lands.