Attempted Crime in Saudi Arabia: Is an Attempt Punished?

Someone sent a trader a forged invoice in the name of a well-known supplier, asking for a transfer of SAR 60,000. But the accountant called the supplier before transferring and discovered the trick. The money never left. Does that mean no crime was committed?

No. Most Saudi criminal laws punish an attempt (shuru'), meaning starting to carry out a crime that is not completed for a reason outside the offender's will. But the penalty is not the same everywhere. In fraud, forgery and cybercrime, it cannot exceed half the maximum penalty for the completed crime. In money laundering, terrorism and human trafficking, an attempt is punished with the same penalty as the completed crime. In the example, the forged invoice itself may be a completed forgery crime, even though the fraud did not succeed.

What is the difference between thinking, preparing and attempting?

Thinking about a crime is not punished. Article 3 of the Law of Criminal Procedure does not allow a penalty unless guilt is proved for an act forbidden by Sharia or law. Preparation, such as buying a tool or gathering information, is usually not enough unless it is itself a crime under a specific text. An attempt begins when the person starts carrying out the act itself: he sends the false message, tries to open the door, or submits the document to the authority.

Saudi laws do not give a general definition of the line between preparation and attempt; the court decides it from the acts and the evidence. So an accusation is built on what the person actually did, not on what he “would have done if he had the chance”.

What is the penalty for an attempt in Saudi Arabia under each law?

So the “half” rule is not general. A person who attempts money laundering does not benefit from the half reduction in the fraud law, because the Anti-Money Laundering Law made an attempt one of the forms of the crime itself.

Worked example: attempted fraud

The penalty for completed fraud is up to 7 years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 5 million, or one of them (Article 1 of the Anti-Fraud and Breach of Trust Law). So an attempt cannot exceed 3 years and 6 months in prison, or a fine of SAR 2.5 million (Article 4). This is a ceiling, not an expected sentence; the court decides within it according to the evidence and circumstances. If there is an organised gang or a repeat offence, Article 5 of the same law sets the penalty between half the maximum and double it.

What about attempted theft or assault?

Theft, killing and bodily attacks are not governed by a codified penal code; the courts apply Sharia (Article 1 of the Law of Criminal Procedure). A person who tried to steal but took nothing does not receive the hadd (fixed Sharia penalty) for theft, because the theft was not completed. But the court may impose a ta'zir (discretionary) penalty for what he actually did, such as entering the place or breaking the lock. No text sets a proportion of the penalty for this.

Attempt is different from helping, and from giving up

An attempt concerns the person who started carrying out the crime himself. A person who incited, agreed or helped is subject to separate rules. Under the fraud law, for example, he is punished by up to the maximum if the crime took place, and up to half if it did not (Article 3). So a person who knowingly gave a fraudster his bank account number is liable as a helper, even if he never sent a message himself.

Where a person stops by his own choice before the crime is completed, most Saudi laws do not set a general rule for the effect of giving up, and the court decides it. What was completed before he gave up remains: a person who forged a document and then decided not to use it in a fraud has still committed a completed forgery. Some laws exempt a person who reports before the crime is discovered, such as Article 25 of the forgery law and Article 8 of the fraud law.

A young man obtained the username and password of another person's bank account and tried to log in to transfer the balance. But the verification code was sent to the account holder's phone, and the operation stopped.

Accessing bank data without right in order to obtain money is a crime under Article 4 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, punished by up to 3 years in prison and/or a fine of up to SAR 2 million. An attempt cannot exceed half of that (Article 10): one and a half years in prison and a fine of SAR 1 million.

But if he had succeeded in getting into the account and then could not transfer, the access itself may be a completed crime, because the text punishes access for the purpose of obtaining money, not only the transfer.

How do you prove the stage at which the act stopped?

• Put the acts in date order: what was prepared, what was sent or submitted, and when the other party stepped in.
• Keep the original messages, files and records. Do not delete anything thinking it was “just preparation”.
• Explain why the crime was not completed: discovery, intervention by the authority, or the offender stopping.
• Separate what actually happened from what was planned, without exaggerating a result that did not happen.

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 were the target of an attempt that was not completed:

• Report it even if you lost nothing. An attempt is punished under most laws.
• Keep the messages, invoices and forged documents in their original form. They may prove a separate completed crime.
• Describe precisely what prevented the act from being completed and how you discovered it.
• If you suffered harm even though the crime was not completed, such as the cost of repairing a system or a broken lock, claim it with documents.

If you are accused of an attempt:

• Identify the law under which the act is charged, because the rule for attempts differs a great deal from one law to another.
• Argue whether what you did was actually carrying out the crime, or only preparation or words with no act following them.
• If you stopped by your own choice, document it and when it happened. It may affect the court's assessment.
• You have the right to a lawyer during investigation and trial (Article 4 of the Law of Criminal Procedure).

The correct description of the act, as an attempt, a completed crime or preparation, changes the penalty a great deal. Send us the details of the incident and the documents on WhatsApp, and we will identify with you the text that applies.