SAUDI BILLIONAIRE PRINCE ALWALEED RELEASED AS CORRUPTION PROBE WINDS DOWN
Saudi billionaire Prince
Al-Waleed bin Talal was released on Saturday after nearly three months in
detention following a "settlement" with authorities, as a sweeping
anti-corruption campaign targeting the kingdom's elite winds down.
His release came
hours after he told Reuters in an interview at Riyadh’s opulent Ritz-Carlton
hotel that he expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing and be freed within
days.
Billionaire Saudi prince Alwaleed reaches settlement and is released after months of detention https://t.co/e3FzI8ilwl pic.twitter.com/zoDTnPoO4l— Forbes (@Forbes) January 28, 2018
A senior Saudi
official said Prince Alwaleed was freed after he reached a financial settlement
with the attorney general.
“The attorney
general has approved this morning the settlement that was reached with Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal, and the prince returned home at 1100 a.m. (0800 GMT),” the
official told Reuters, without giving details of the terms.
The decision to free
him, and the release of several other well-known tycoons on Friday, suggested
the main part of the corruption probe was winding down after it sent shockwaves
through Saudi Arabia’s business and political establishment.
In his first
interview since being detained, conducted hours before his release, Prince
Alwaleed told Reuters he maintained his innocence of any corruption in talks
with the authorities.
He said he expected
to keep full control of his global investment firm Kingdom Holding Co 4280.SE
without being required to hand assets to the state. He said he had been able to
communicate with executives at his business while detained.
Prince Alwaleed, who
is in his early 60s, described his confinement as a “misunderstanding” and said
he supported reform efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“There are no
charges. There are just some discussions between me and the government,” he
said.
Prince Alwaleed had
been confined at the Ritz-Carlton since early November, along with dozens of
other senior officials and businessmen, part of the crown prince’s plan to
reform oil superpower Saudi Arabia and consolidate his position.
FOREIGN INVESTOR
CONCERNS
When asked if the
attorney general was convinced of Prince Alwaleed’s innocence, the senior Saudi
official said:
“I will not negate
or confirm what he says. Generally this falls back to those who concluded the
settlement, and for sure there is no settlement unless there are violations,
and they are not concluded without the accused admitting it in writing and promising
not to repeat it.”
The source declined
to give further details, but confirmed that Prince Alwaleed would remain head
of Kingdom Holding.
A Gulf banker who
deals with Saudi Arabia said the authorities appeared keen to conclude the
probe partly because foreign investors were concerned their assets or local
business partners could be targeted in the wide-ranging crackdown.
Prince Alwaleed’s
detention was particularly worrying for foreigners because of his international
prominence as an investor in top Western companies such as Twitter (TWTR.N) and
Citigroup (C.N), and in top hotels including the George V in Paris and the
Plaza in New York, the banker said.
“The government is
signaling that it wants to move to a new phase now, away from the crackdown and
into other economic reforms,” the banker said.
Outside Prince
Alwaleed’s Riyadh palace, dozens of cars lined the entrances as a huge Saudi
flag flapped above. Guards cracked jokes and drank coffee. His office said the
prince was out visiting family, but declined to give any details.
The attorney general
said earlier this week that 90 detainees had been released after their were
charges dropped, while others traded cash, real estate and other assets for
their freedom. The authorities were still holding 95 people, he said. Some are
expected to be put on trial.
An official Saudi
source said on Friday that several prominent businessmen had reached financial
settlements with the authorities, including Waleed al-Ibrahim, owner of
regional television network MBC, who was released. Terms of his settlement were
not revealed.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: Another high-profile release from the Ritz, but mystery remains around what deal he struck to get out. https://t.co/DVijR6AoiT— Ben Hubbard (@NYTBen) January 27, 2018
Saudi authorities
have said they expect to raise some $100 billion for the government through
such settlements - a huge windfall for the state, which has seen its finances
squeezed by low oil prices. Some private analysts think that target will be
hard to hit, given how many suspects have seen charges dropped.
Allegations against
Prince Alwaleed included money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, a
Saudi official told Reuters in November. The prince’s net worth has been
estimated by Forbes magazine at $17 billion.
While declaring his
innocence in the Reuters interview, the prince appeared greyer and thinner than
in his last public appearance, a television interview in October, and had grown
a beard while in detention.
“I have nothing to
hide at all. I‘m so comfortable, I‘m so relaxed. I shave here, like at home. My
barber comes here. I‘m like at home, frankly speaking,” he said, adding he had
been able to communicate with family members while in detention.
He granted the
30-minute interview to Reuters, including a tour of his suite, partly to
disprove rumors about mistreatment and that he had been moved from the hotel to
a prison.
Prince Alwaleed
showed off the comforts of his gold-accented private office, dining room and
kitchen, which was fully stocked with his preferred vegetarian meals.
In the corner of his
office sat tennis shoes, which he said he used regularly for exercise. A
television played business news programs, and a mug with an image of his own
face on it was perched on the desk.
After being
released, Prince Alwaleed said, he would stay in Saudi Arabia and would return
to the challenge of juggling his global business interests.
“I will not leave
Saudi Arabia, for sure. This is my country.”
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