How to Get Money Back from a Scammer in Saudi Arabia

You transferred SAR 40,000 to a man who promised you a monthly return from an “investment portfolio”, and then he closed his number. You filed a report, and now one question keeps you busy: will I get my money back, or will they just put him in prison?

The direct answer: punishing the fraudster is one thing, and returning your money is another, called the private right. Your complaint as the injured person counts as a claim for your private right under Article 29 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, so write the amount in it as a number and attach proof. If a judgment orders him to repay you and he does not pay, you enforce it through the Enforcement Court against his assets. The biggest way people lose this right is by signing a waiver before receiving the money.

The new Enforcement Law (published on 14/11/1447H, 1 May 2026) comes into force 180 days after publication, around 28 October 2026, and replaces the Enforcement Law of 1433H. What follows about enforcing judgments explains the current position and what will change.

Two tracks in one fraud case

When you report fraud, two cases in fact begin. The first is the public case, handled by the Public Prosecution to punish the offender with prison or a fine. The second is the private right case: your right to the amount taken from you and to compensation for the harm you suffered. A prison sentence for the fraudster does not automatically mean your money comes back, so you must follow both tracks together.

Start with the complaint itself

Article 16 of the Law of Criminal Procedure gives the victim, his representative and his heirs after him the right to bring a criminal case in matters connected to a private right and to pursue it before the court. Article 29 treats a complaint from the person harmed by the crime as a claim for his private right, unless he expressly tells the investigator that he gives it up.

In practice: write the amount you lost in the complaint as a number, and attach proof such as transfers and receipts. If you suffered other losses because of the fraud, mention them with their documents. A clear claim from the start is easier than trying to add it later.

Article 16 mentions pursuing the case before the court as well as bringing it. This means you are a party to the case as far as your private right is concerned: you may attend, file your documents and answer what the accused says about the amount. If the case is referred to court, follow the hearing dates, and do not assume the prosecution will claim the amount for you.

What happens to money seized during the investigation?

Money or items may be seized from the accused during the investigation. The Implementing Regulations of the Law of Criminal Procedure give the power to return seized items to the investigator before the case reaches court, and to the head of the judicial circuit after that (Article 62 of the Regulations), and require the owners of seized items to be told of their right to get them back (Article 64). If you learn that some of your money was seized, ask the investigating authority to record your ownership of it.

Article 6 of the Anti-Fraud and Breach of Trust Law provides for confiscating the tools and proceeds of the crime by court judgment "without prejudice to the rights of third parties acting in good faith", but it does not explain how confiscation relates to returning your money. The Law of Criminal Procedure fills part of this gap: seized items that were the object of the crime, or obtained from it, are returned to the person who lost possession of them through the crime, unless the person they were seized from has a right to keep them (Article 87), and the court may order their return while hearing the case (Article 88). Every judgment in the criminal case must also decide the requests of the private claimant, whether the accused is convicted or not, unless this needs a separate inquiry that would delay the judgment, in which case the court postpones it (Articles 173 and 180). So ask expressly for your money to be returned, and make sure your claim is recorded in the file before the judgment.

What if the public case ends?

The public case may end for one of the reasons set out in Article 22 of the Law of Criminal Procedure. The same article provides that this does not prevent the private right case from continuing. So your right to the money is not lost just because the criminal side has ended.

If the case is closed (hifz) during the investigation, the closure order must be notified to you with its reasons, stating that you may claim your private right before the competent court, and you receive a certified copy to submit to that court (Article 124). But if you file your claim before the criminal court and then abandon it, you may continue it there, but you may not file it before another court (Article 152). So do not drop your claim in the criminal case hoping to file it later in another court.

Beware of signing a waiver too early

Under Article 23, the private right case ends with a final judgment or a pardon by the victim or his heir, and this pardon does not stop the public case from continuing. Remember also that under Article 29 your express waiver before the investigator means your complaint no longer counts as a claim. The accused or his family often offer part of the amount in return for a full waiver. Before you sign, read the wording carefully: is it a waiver of all your rights or of a specific amount? Did you actually receive the money, or only a promise?

If you agree on payment in instalments, link the waiver to full payment, or limit it to what you have actually received. Keep a copy of every record or acknowledgement you sign; the written wording is what counts later, not what was said during negotiation.

You transferred SAR 40,000 to a man who promised you an investment return and then disappeared.

You filed a complaint and stated the full amount in it.

During the investigation the accused offered SAR 15,000 in return for your waiver.

If you sign a general waiver of your private right, your claim for the rest may end. If the paper states expressly that you received SAR 15,000 and that your claim for the rest remains, the general rule is that your right to the remaining SAR 25,000 stays.

What if the victim has died or is outside Saudi Arabia?

The right to claim does not end with the owner's death. Article 16 of the Law of Criminal Procedure includes the victim's heir after him among those who may bring a case for the private right, and also the person representing him. So if your late relative was defrauded, the heirs may claim the amount. If you are outside the Kingdom, your agent can follow up the claim, provided the power of attorney covers it.

Proving the amount matters more than proving the trick

The prosecution focuses on proving the crime; proving how much you are owed is mainly your job. Put the transfers in a simple table: date, amount, receiving account and the document that proves it. If you paid in cash, mention who was present and any message that refers to the payment. This helps the investigator and the court decide the amount to be returned.

Mistakes that lose the right

• Filing a report without stating the amount claimed.
• Deleting chats or changing your mobile number before the case ends.
• Paying someone who promises to recover the money for an upfront fee.
• Signing a waiver in return for a promise to pay later.
• Following only the criminal case and not attending or providing proof of the amount when asked.

After the judgment: how do you enforce the order to repay?

A criminal judgment that orders the accused to repay you becomes an “executive instrument” (sanad tanfidhi, a document enforceable directly at the Enforcement Court) once it is final. You file an enforcement request with it on Najiz (the Ministry of Justice e-portal), and the Enforcement Court seizes his assets and accounts. The punishment itself, prison or fine, is not enforced by the Enforcement Court.

What changes with the new Enforcement Law?

• If five working days pass after the judgment debtor is notified of the enforcement order without payment, the credit information provider (such as SIMAH, the Saudi credit bureau) is notified, his assets and any future income are seized, and the court may impose a fine of up to SAR 5,000 per day (Article 18).
• If there are signs that assets are being hidden or smuggled, the court, at your request, orders them to be traced and questions anyone suspected of receiving them, such as relatives, agents and people who deal with him (Articles 20 and 21). This matters a lot in fraud cases, because money is usually moved quickly.
• You may ask the court to cancel gifts, donations and unusual transactions the debtor makes after being notified and before seizure, within the limits of your right (Article 24).
• A travel ban is issued at your request for up to three years, extendable by a new request to a maximum of six years (Article 19).
• Hiding or smuggling assets to prevent enforcement is a crime punished by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 1 million (Article 50).
• An enforcement request is not accepted on an instrument more than ten years after its due date (Article 11).

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for both sides

If you are the victim:

• File the report immediately and ask in it for the amounts in the receiving accounts to be held, and inform your bank on the same day.
• Write the amount in the complaint as a number, and attach the table of transfers and the chats.
• Do not sign a general waiver in return for a promise to pay; limit any waiver to what you have actually received.
• If a judgment is issued for the amount, file the enforcement request against the judgment debtor's assets without delay.

If you are the person asked to return the money:

• If you have proof that the amount was payment for a service or goods you delivered, give it to the investigator from the start.
• A written settlement with the victim ends his private right if he pardons, but it does not end the public right (Article 23).
• Pay through a documented channel, and get a signed acknowledgement of receipt stating the amount and its effect on the claim.
• Do not transfer your assets or give them to relatives after being notified of enforcement; this may be cancelled and expose you to a separate penalty.

Every day that passes makes the money harder to trace. Send us the transfer receipts and the report number on WhatsApp, and we will review them with you and explain the next step.