{"id":7020,"date":"2017-11-09T19:56:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T19:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/saudi-arabia-to-confiscate-300b-assets-of-alwaleed-others\/"},"modified":"2017-11-09T19:56:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T19:56:11","slug":"saudi-arabia-to-confiscate-300b-assets-of-alwaleed-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/saudi-arabia-to-confiscate-300b-assets-of-alwaleed-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia to confiscate $300b assets of Alwaleed, others"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"description\" readability=\"137\">\n<p>Saudi Arabia has announced it will confiscate money and assets, running into $300billion  held by dozens of top officials and businessmen detained in an anti-corruption crackdown.<\/p>\n<p>The Saudi attorney-general said  detailed questioning of detainees had already produced \u201ca great deal of evidence\u201d, but gave no more details.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_891289\" style=\"width: 429px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png?resize=429%2C282&#038;ssl=1\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/lazy-load\/images\/1x1.trans.gif?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"429\" height=\"282\" class=\"size-full wp-image-891289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png 429w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-58x38.png 58w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-260x171.png 260w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-198x130.png 198w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-115x77.png 115w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\"\/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png?resize=429%2C282&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"429\" height=\"282\" class=\"size-full wp-image-891289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png 429w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-58x38.png 58w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-260x171.png 260w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-198x130.png 198w, https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17-115x77.png 115w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Al-Waleed bin Talal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- between content ad --><\/p>\n<p>Businessmen in detention include international investor Prince Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes magazine before the crackdown at $17 billion; Mohammad al-Amoudi at $10.4 billion, with construction, agriculture and <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/the-benefits-of-solar-roofing-for-your-home\/\">energy<\/a> companies in Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia; and finance and healthcare magnate Saleh Kamel at $2.3 billion.<\/p>\n<p>A large amount of the <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/get-quick-loan-for-real-estate-investment\/\">funds<\/a> are believed by financial sources to be held offshore in bank accounts, portfolio investments, corporate shareholdings and <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/property-center-nigeria\/\">real estate<\/a>. Many of the businessmen detained have private planes \u2014 one has a Boeing 747 airliner.<\/p>\n<p>And a study by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research estimated Saudis have stashed away wealth equivalent to over 55 percent of the country\u2019s gross domestic product in foreign tax havens \u2014 an amount exceeding $300 billion.<\/p>\n<p>But the experiences of two other Arab states trying to recover stolen money, Egypt and Tunisia, suggest Riyadh may face years of legal and diplomatic battles to secure assets held abroad. Even then success is not guaranteed.<br \/>The anti-corruption committee that detained princes, tycoons and ministers at the weekend has the power under a royal decree to take \u201cwhatever measures are deemed necessary\u201d to seize companies, funds and other assets without waiting for the results of criminal investigations.<br \/>The offshore scrutiny of assets has already begun in the Gulf region, where Saudi Arabia regularly shares information.<\/p>\n<p>The United Arab Emirates\u2019 central bank and securities regulator has asked banks and finance companies there to provide information on the accounts of 19 Saudi citizens, banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The Saudi committee has not given details of the allegations individuals face, though Saudi officials say they include money laundering, bribery, extortion and taking advantage of public office for personal gain.<\/p>\n<p>Riyadh has also set no timetable for its confiscations, although banking sources say more than 1,700 domestic bank accounts have already been frozen at the request of the central bank.<\/p>\n<p>If the committee were to try to retrieve all the revenue that has been lost to corruption, from bribes to illegal expropriation of land, the total would be $800 billion, an official at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry has estimated.<\/p>\n<p>But Egypt and Tunisia\u2019s experiences show that although asset freezes can be arranged within months, repatriating the money can take many years.<\/p>\n<p>Cairo has tried unsuccessfully for five years to retrieve about 85 million pounds ($111 million)in British bank accounts belonging to the inner circle of former President Hosni Mubarak.<\/p>\n<p>British officials have said they are bound by British law, which requires the Egyptians to provide them with criminal convictions first.<\/p>\n<p>Tunisia has so far recovered only a small portion of about $35 million claimed from Switzerland following the 2011 revolution that inspired the Arab Spring uprising.<\/p>\n<p>There are some precedents that could give Saudi Arabia cause for hope that it will be able to repatriate money.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Nigeria and Switzerland signed a deal paving the way for the return of over $300 million confiscated from the family of Nigeria\u2019s former military ruler Sani Abacha.<\/p>\n<p>Requests from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria have led to nearly 1 billion Swiss francs ($1 billion) of assets being frozen by Swiss authorities.<\/p>\n<p>But the efforts of Egypt and Tunisia to retrieve the money have stumbled over a requirement to submit evidence that would be admissible in Western legal systems, proving the beneficial owners of the assets and showing that corruption has taken place. Often assets are held in complex offshore vehicles making it hard to show who really owns them.<\/p>\n<p>Repatriating assets could be so hard that Riyadh may try to avoid foreign legal action altogether in many cases, instead making deals with detained tycoons and princes that in effect legalize their fortunes in exchange for a share of their money, some bankers and consultants say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government will also strike deals with businessmen and royals to avoid arrest, but only as part of a greater commitment to the local economy,\u201d said Ayham Kamel, Eurasia Group\u2019s practice head, Middle East &amp; North Africa in a note.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a hre=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/2017\/11\/saudi-arabia-confiscate-300b-assets-alwaleed-others\/\"> Vanguard <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saudi Arabia has announced it will confiscate money and assets, running into $300billion held by dozens &hellip; <a title=\"Saudi Arabia to confiscate $300b assets of Alwaleed, others\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/saudi-arabia-to-confiscate-300b-assets-of-alwaleed-others\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Saudi Arabia to confiscate $300b assets of Alwaleed, others<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[519,15228,2890,522,1007,84,15282,15307],"class_list":["post-7020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opportunities-in-new-markets","tag-africa","tag-airline","tag-construction","tag-nigeria","tag-owners","tag-real-estate","tag-ross","tag-ulta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png?fit=429%2C282&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7917,"url":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/saudi-prince-al-waleed-released-after-settlement\/","url_meta":{"origin":7020,"position":0},"title":"Saudi Prince Al-Waleed released after \u2018settlement\u2019","author":"Amazing Property","date":"January 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Billionaire Saudi Prince Al-Waleed was released on Saturday after nearly three months in detention, a business associate told AFP, as a sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting the kingdom\u2019s elite winds down.Al-Waleed bin Talal Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was the most high-profile detainee among 350\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Opportunities In New Markets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Opportunities In New Markets","link":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/category\/opportunities-in-new-markets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2017 11 09 At 20.54.17.png","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-09-at-20.54.17.png?fit=429%2C282&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5566,"url":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/qatar-hits-back-at-rivals-with-neymar-soft-power-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":7020,"position":1},"title":"Qatar hits back at rivals with Neymar soft power play","author":"Amazing Property","date":"August 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"With the anticipated transfer of football phenomenon Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, Qatar is hitting back at its Gulf rivals with a high-profile soft power play. 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