Oman toughens bribery laws with longer prison terms

Oman has increased jail terms for bribery offences and made attempted bribery a criminal offence under amendments to its penal code, as the sultanate strengthens its anti-corruption rules.

Officials who collect bribes will now be jailed between three to five years, the royal decree issued on June 29 yesterday, said.

Employers or employees who accept the bribe, even if they have not collected, it face imprisonment between one to three years.

Attempted bribery, which was not a crime before, is also now punishable from three months to one year.

This is the first time Oman has specifically set jail terms for bribery cases.

“It is the expansion of criminal liability, increase prison terms and penalise individuals who offer bribes in both business and government organisations,” the royal decree said.

The decree did not specify the reason for the extension of the jail terms but analysts say corruption has been rising in the country and forced the government to raise the penalties.

“Bribery and embezzlement of government funds have been a silent [problem] and have been rising and go largely unreported. It has been a get-rich quick for many officials for so long,” said Nasser Al Brashdi, executive director of aviation company Majan Investment, who has experience with government contracts and tenders.

Last year, Oman’s State Audit Institution reported that it had recovered OMR58 million ($150 million) in what it described as funds embezzled by government officials.

Until now, it has been rare for financial embezzlement or bribery cases to be made public, both in government and at private organisations.

“Most of the bribery cases are from winning government contracts offered by contractors to officials,” Brashdi added.

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