SAUDI ARABIA’S ANTI-CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION TO END ‘IN DAYS’

Mohammed bin Salman’s crackdown all but complete with 95 suspects likely to be referred to public prosecutor

Saudi Arabia’s sweeping anticorruption investigation is set to end with 95 suspects likely to be referred to the public prosecutor.

“Only a couple of days until cases of corruption-related settlements are closed in preparation for referring the remaining defendants to the public prosecution,” the government-linked Twitter account says.

Money laundering, bribery and extortion were among the allegations made against dozens of Saudi government figures and businessmen detained late last year in a huge crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The government said most suspects agreed to financial settlements, while the charges against 90 others were dropped. Ninety-five people remained in detention.

The public prosecutor said that all those being detained had legal representation and that “those who were released are free to move without restrictions”.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed Al Jadaan, said that the money received from the financial settlements would be allocated to citizens, by royal order.

More than 300 people have been questioned during the investigation, and more than 2,000 bank accounts have been frozen.

The crown prince said last year that anyone found guilty of corruption would be punished.

“No one is above the law, whether it is a prince or a minister,” Prince Mohammed said.

Two of the most high-profile arrests were Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the kingdom’s most prominent businessmen, and Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, the former head of the Saudi National Guard and son of the late King Abdullah.

Prince Miteb was released after an undisclosed settlement was reached.

The detainees were kept at Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton and other five-star hotels in the capital.

Saudi authorities repeatedly said that the purge was meant solely to target endemic corruption as the kingdom seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

The attorney general said that at least $100 billion (Dh367bn) had been lost in embezzlement or corruption over several decades.