Saudi frees several prominent businessmen including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal arrested on corruption charges
Riyadh, January 29: The authorities of Saudi Arabia freed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and several of the kingdom's most prominent businessmen from detention of the 200-or-so powerful individuals who were arrested since November this year on corruption charges after they reached deals with the government.
According to the reports by local media of Saudi Arabia, the authorities freed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and several of the kingdom's most prominent businessmen who were arrested since November this year in on corruption charges after they reached deals with the government.
Alwaleed, the billionaire chairman of Riyadh's Kingdom Holding Co. who owns stakes in Citigroup Inc. and Twitter Inc., returned home on Saturday after reaching a settlement with authorities. The prince's release came just hours after Alwaleed in an interview said that he expected to go home soon and retain control of his company, calling his detention a "misunderstanding" and expressing support for the kingdom's rulers.
Importantly, the authorities arrested 11 princes, 4 ministers and a number of former government ministers as it was re-examining the 2009 Jeddah floods and investigating the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia freed 23 of the 200-or-so powerful individuals including Prince Miteb bin Abdullah who once seen as a contender to the throne was also released on November 29 of last year after they agreed to pay settlement amount.
BACKGROUND:
Saudi authorities taking a huge step to eradicate the corruption in Kingdom arrested 11 princes, 4 ministers and a number of former government ministers as it is re-examining the corruption involved in 2009 Jeddah floods and investigating the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Saudi Arabia’s newly made anti-corruption committee is headed by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, the analysts said the goal of the purge went beyond corruption and aimed to remove potential opposition to Prince Mohammed as he pushes an ambitious and controversial reform agenda.