Saudi Arabia questions more than 200 in graft inquiry

Dozens more people have been taken into custody by Saudi authorities in a sweep that investigators say has uncovered at least $100 billion in corruption.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chats with his son and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, before King Salman leaves for Medina, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 8, 2017.
Reuters

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chats with his son and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, before King Salman leaves for Medina, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 8, 2017.

Saudi Arabia said Thursday 201 people are being held for questioning over an estimated $100 billion in embezzlement and corruption, after the biggest purge of the kingdom's elite in its modern history.

Princes, ministers and a billionaire business tycoon were among dozens of high-profile figures arrested or sacked at the weekend, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidates power.

"Based on our investigations over the past three years, we estimate that at least $100 billion has been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades," Attorney-General Sheikh Saud al Mojeb said in a statement.

Of the 208 people called in for questioning so far, seven have been released without charge, Sheikh Saud said, without naming them.

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The purge comes amid heightened regional tensions, with Saudi Arabia and Iran facing off over a missile attack from Yemen and a political crisis in Lebanon after prime minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation announced from Riyadh.

Reports say a number of other individuals suspected of wrongdoing were detained in an expansion of the crackdown, widely seen as an initiative of the powerful heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Others under scrutiny are being telephoned by investigators about their finances but appear to remain at liberty.

TRT World's Mobin Nasir reports.

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Frozen bank accounts

Authorities have frozen the bank accounts of the accused and warned that assets related to the alleged corruption cases would be seized as state property, as the government appears set to widen the crackdown.

The number of domestic bank accounts frozen as a result of the purge is over 1,700 and rising, up from 1,200 reported on Tuesday, banking sources said.

"The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large," the statement said.

High-profile figures, including billionaire tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, were arrested or sacked in the crackdown - just after an anti-graft commission headed by the crown prince was established.

"Anti-corruption" authorities have also frozen the bank accounts of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, one of the most senior members of the ruling Al Saud, and some of his immediate family members.

Since Sunday, the central bank has been expanding the list of accounts it is requiring lenders to freeze on an almost hourly basis, one regional banker said, declining to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Reuters

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal leaves the High Court in London, July 2, 2013. (File Photo)

Stocks Fall

The investigation has spread to the neighbouring United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the UAE central bank has asked commercial banks and finance companies there to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis, commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia’s stock market continued to fall in early trade on Wednesday because of concern about the economic impact of its the purge. 

The Saudi index.TASI was 1.0 percent lower after half an hour of trade. Shares in companies linked to people detained in the investigation slid further.

Late on Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed and the Saudi central bank sought to ease worries about the crackdown.

They said that while individuals were being targeted and having their bank accounts frozen, national and multinational companies – including those wholly or partly owned by individuals under investigation – would not be disrupted.

The US State Department said on Tuesday it had urged Saudi Arabia to carry out any prosecution of officials detained in a “fair and transparent” manner.

Rights groups concerned

Commenting on the purge, Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to “immediately reveal the legal and evidentiary basis for each person’s detention and make certain that each person detained can exercise their due process rights.”

“It’s great that Saudi authorities are declaring that they want to take on the scourge of corruption, but the right way to do that is through diligent judicial investigations against actual wrongdoing, not sensationalistic mass arrests to a luxury hotel,” Human Rights Watch official Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement.

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