Posted on 11/24/2017 12:18:56 PM PST by RoosterRedux
Saudi princes and businessmen rounded up in a corruption crackdown have begun handing over funds and assets to pay for their freedom, two people briefed on the process say.
Several billions of dollars had already been handed over to the government, one of them said, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seeks to recover at least $100bn through the crackdown.
More than 200 people, including some of Saudi Arabia’s richest businessmen, have been detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh since an anti-graft operation was launched this month. The Financial Times revealed that the authorities are negotiating settlements under which the detainees can secure their release if they hand over assets and funds — in some case up to 70 per cent of their holdings.
Prince Mohammed has brought in western investigators to work alongside finance ministry officials as they sift through reams of documents to determine the amount of alleged corruption and the size of the penalty a detainee must pay.
The authorities are focusing their efforts on deposits held by banks and asset managers. Bankers in Riyadh say they have been told to stay at their desks for hours to wait for the arrival of regulators to inspect accounts.
Foreign bankers had also been brought in for questioning, the people briefed on the investigations say.
“They are piling up documents on the table, saying ‘This is the evidence against you’,” said an adviser to one of the suspects. “This will take years to resolve — or you could just pay it back and be done.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
The Swiss aren’t going to be pleased about this. Also yacht brokers are going to be stuck with a lot of inventory.
Doing some of their own swamp cleaning....
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