A total of 208 people were questioned for widespread corruption and at least $ 100 billion was estimated to have been squandered through graft as the probe crossed the kingdom's borders, the Saudi attorney general said on Thursday.
The value of these practices, which have lasted for many decades, could be very large amounts of misappropriated and unused public funds, and the potential value of these amounts could exceed 375 billion rials (100 billion dollars), preliminary investigations showed.
He said of the 208 people summoned to the investigation, seven were released without charge. He did not give their names.
Dozens of princes, senior officials and businessmen, including cabinet ministers and billionaires, were detained in connection with the investigation, which was announced at the weekend and appears to be partly aimed at strengthening the authority of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The investigation was extended to the UAE, sources at commercial banks told Reuters on Thursday. The UAE central bank had asked commercial banks and financial institutions to provide details on the accounts of 19 Saudis.
All of these nineteen are known to have been detained, including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the former Minister of National Guard, Mr.
Sources in commercial banks said the UAE authorities had not provided a reason to request the information but believed the authorities were acting at the request of the Saudi government, which said it was aiming to recover illegal money.
UAE central bank officials could not be reached for comment, while Saudi officials, who had frozen more than 1,700 local accounts in the campaign, did not respond to requests for comment.
The UAE, specifically Dubai, is one of the main destinations where wealthy Saudis deposit their money. Apart from bank accounts, they buy luxury apartments and villas in Dubai and invest in the volatile UAE stock exchange.
Sale of assets
Some wealthy Saudis are liquidating their assets in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states this week in an apparent bid to move money out of the region and escape the campaign, private bankers and finance managers say.
Sources in UAE commercial banks said they had not been asked to freeze Saudi accounts at their institutions but believed the central bank's request for information might be a prelude to such a move.
A banker in the Gulf said the risk of freezing the accounts jeopardizes Dubai's advantage as a center for private banks. Banks in Saudi Arabia are full of Saudi money.
A senior banking official at an international bank with deals with Saudi Arabia said his firm had already frozen some accounts inside and outside the kingdom in response to Saudi government requests.
The bank is conducting its own investigation into the accounts associated with people who have been detained, the official said without elaborating.
Another banker in the region said his firm was receiving more requests from Saudi clients for cross-border financial transactions, but the firm was handling the requests very carefully because regulators could take further action.
Saudi and foreign businessmen worry that the campaign will hurt the economy if a bank freeze causes payments to be delayed and companies become more cautious about investment.
The admirer reiterated today the statements of senior officials that businesses were not affected by the campaign and that personal bank accounts, not commercial ones, were frozen.
Personal bank accounts have been suspended only and companies and banks have the freedom to continue transactions and transfers as usual, he said.
ABU DHABI (Reuters) -
