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Saudi Arabia Could Seize $100 Billion From Suspects In ‘Anti-Corruption’ Sweep

REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

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Will Racke Immigration and Foreign Policy Reporter
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Saudi Arabia is poised to confiscate up to $100 billion of allegedly ill-gotten assets from princes, former government ministers and billionaire investors who were arrested in a sweeping anti-corruption operation this month.

The suspects, which include the kingdom’s wealthiest royal and a former head of the national guard, will likely be offered settlements in lieu of standing trial, reports Bloomberg, citing Saudi government officials.

The settlement talks will focus on the amount of money the suspects have allegedly embezzled or otherwise acquired through corruption over a period of many years. While that amount is yet to be determined, authorities believe they will be able to seize between $50 and $100 billion from various bank and trading accounts.

The initiation of settlement negotiations is the latest phase in a government crackdown that has shaken the highest levels of Saudi society and added another element of uncertainty to an already unstable Mideast balance of power.

Earlier this month, an anti-corruption committee under the direction of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman detained 11 princes, along with other high-level officials, in a series of unexpected arrests. Saudi officials described the operation as part of the committee’s effort to root out graft in the famously corrupt kingdom, but the detentions also served to consolidate power in the hand of Bin Salman, who is next in line to assume the Saudi crown.

Among those arrested were Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, the powerful head of the Saudi National Guard, and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, an internationally prominent investor with an estimated net worth of around $19 billion. Shortly after the arrests, government officials said they would freeze the suspects’ bank accounts and seize “assets and property” linked to corruption charges.

The purge has since widened to include dozens of current and former officials. Most recently arrested were 14 retired Ministry of Defense officers and two retired National Guard officers accused of engaging in corrupt financial contracts, reports Bloomberg. The kingdom’s market regulator has also frozen the trading accounts of the people detained or investigated.

Under the rising influence of Crown Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia had pursued an aggressive — critics say ill-advised — foreign policy against Iranian influence in the Middle East. The strategy includes a brutal bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen and a diplomatic blockade of tiny Persian Gulf neighbor Qatar.

Foreign policy observers see the crown prince’s anti-corruption purge as the domestic analogue to his approach to international geopolitics.

“The message that it definitely sends across Saudi society is that the crown prince has a particular vision in mind for how — for where he wants his country to go. He’s in the driver’s seat,” the Atlantic Council’s H.A. Hellyer told NPR.

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