Saudi government may confiscate up to $800 billion in anticorruption crackdown
By
Margherita Stancati and
Summer Said
Published: Nov 7, 2017 6:07 p.m. ET
Crackdown could help replenish state coffers
AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi government is aiming to confiscate cash and other assets worth as much as $800 billion in its broadening crackdown on alleged corruption among the kingdom’s elite, according to people familiar with the matter.
Several prominent businessmen are among those who have been arrested in the days since Saudi authorities launched the crackdown on Saturday, by detaining more than 60 princes, officials and other prominent Saudis, according to those people and others.
The country’s central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, said late Tuesday that it has frozen the bank accounts of “persons of interest” and said the move is “in response to the Attorney General’s request pending the legal cases against them.”
The purge is the most extensive of the kingdom’s elite in recent history. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, was named heir to the throne in June and has moved to consolidate power. He has said that tackling corruption at the highest level is necessary to overhaul what has long been an oil-dependent economy. The crackdown could also help replenish state coffers. The government has said that assets accumulated through corruption will become state property, and people familiar with the matter say the government estimates the value of assets it can reclaim at up to 3 trillion Saudi riyal, or $800 billion.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
Also popular on WSJ.com:
Millennial home buyers send a chill through rental markets.
Bridgewater paid over $1 million to employee pushed out after relationship with Dalio’s protégé.
Copyright ©2017 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.
By using this site you agree to the
Terms of Service,
Privacy Policy, and
Cookie Policy (Updated Oct. 19, 2017).
Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to
terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.
I am witness to some of this theft as I worked with contractors involved in stealing money. Time to tweet directly to MbS
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's Monetary Agency said the detentions, which are ostensibly aimed at ending corruption, would not affect businesses associated with those arrested.
Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, launched on Saturday a purge of his rivals within the royal family and the country's business elite.
Jubeir said "the crown prince has made it very clear that no prince and no minister and no high-ranking official is immune from corruption charges.
WATCH: Iran-Saudi tensions - Lebanon PM Hariri's resignation seen as a ploy
"The public prosecutor started an investigation two and a half years ago and unearthed a large number of cases of individuals who are involved in corruption and the decision was made to bring these people in for questioning and to confront them with the evidence and to deal with this issue in a very resolute manner".
Jubeir went on to say: "A sizeable percentage of our budget we discovered was being stolen and this cannot stand. Where you have corruption, you cannot have justice, you cannot have investment, you cannot have efficient and transparent government.
"I believe that the international community will be very, very pleased that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not only transparent, not only firm, but has actually taken decisive action against individuals who robbed public goods.
"And the reason the names have not been announced is that, under our legal system, we don't publicise names until after the verdicts are out. ... this is a hugely important step for Saudi Arabia.
"Now foreign investors can come into Saudi Arabia and compete on an equal footing with everybody else."
