Bahrain’s Criminal Court postpones trial of 13 defendants in money laundering case

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

Bahrain’s 3rd District Court postponed looking into the case of Bank Awal, involving 13 defendants accused of various violations including money laundering and fraud, to January 8, 2012 to give more time to the General Prosecutor’s office to finish translation of reports used by the Bank in its dealings with various international financial institutions. A lawyer in the case, Muhammad Al-Wasati insisted in yesterday’s hearing on not offering any defense until he receives the full translation. Continue reading →

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Posted in Mideast Movement

Legal battle between Algosaibis and Al Sanea heats up

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Admin| 1 Comment

http://www.emirates247.com/business/legal-battle-between-algosaibis-and-al-sanea-heats-up-2011-11-09-1.427327

A month after a UK court lifted a $9.2 billion freeze on the assets of Maan Al Sanea, mirroring a judgement by a Cayman Islands court a fortnight before that, the legal battle between Saudi Arabia’s Algosaibis and Maan Al Sanea seems to be heating up once again.

Al Sanea, facing criminal and civil proceedings relating to billions of dollars allegedly defrauded from his wife’s family the Algosaibis, recently won a big respite after the Cayman and UK courts lifted a freeze against his assets.

“A wrongful $9.2billion freezing order against me has been lifted, with the courts recognising that it should never have been imposed in the first place,” Al Sanea said in statement sent to Emirates 24/7 in late September. Continue reading →

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Posted in Cayman Courts

Ahab wins default judgment against Sanea

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

Saudi Arabia’s Algosaibi family has won a default judgment against billionaire Maan al-Sanea in a $9.2bn claim for damages in a Cayman Islands court, declaring a “major victory” in the latest instalment of the two-year legal battle surrounding one of the region’s largest corporate collapses.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (Ahab) said it would now push for an assessment of damages for conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty against Mr Sanea, a fellow Saudi, who declined to present a defence. Representatives of one of the oil-rich kingdom’s leading business families said they expected to receive damages of “billions of dollars”, with the judgment marking a “significant development in recovery efforts against Maan al-Sanea”. Continue reading →

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Posted in Cayman Courts

British banks facing claims risk in Saudi fraud case

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/8872856/British-banks-facing-claims-risk-in-Saudi-fraud-case.html

A court in New York ordered the two British banks together with Citi and Bank of America to disclose confidential client documents, over-ruling pleadings that the evidence could be used against them.

The documents relate to bank accounts held by Maan Al-Sanea, the Saudi billionaire being pursued for billions of dollars he is alleged to have stolen.

Mr Al-Sanea is facing criminal and civil proceedings relating to billions of dollars allegedly defrauded from his wife’s family the Algosaibis. Cases are currently being pursued in London, Bahrain, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Continue reading →

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Posted in UK Watch

Banks Going After al Sanea and Saad Group in Bahrain

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

English translation of:

http://www.mubasher.info/portal/KSE/getDetailsStory.html?storyId=1904883&goToHomePageParam=true&siteLanguage=ar

July 17, 2011 / Al-Seyasseh

Al-Seyasseh learned that talks have taken place between a local investment company and a delegation representing Saad Group, owned by Maan Al-Sanea.

Informed sources said that the Saad delegation offered to repay 25% of the value of a loan obtained through Awal Bank before it was under administration by the Bahrain Bank and the Bahraini Public Prosecutors.

The sources said that this was the first time that such talks were held. The talks come following an official decision to intensify contacts with Saad Groups and suggest lowering the provisions sought by the company.

Sources affirmed that Saad Group was happy by the offer for a friendly resolution, but that the offer that was eventually made by Saad was unacceptable, and caused a stir within the company. Continue reading →

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Posted in Mideast Movement

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U.K. Says Banks Fail to Combat Laundering

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

LONDON? The U.K.’s financial regulator accused major banks of failing to adequately police against corrupt politicians and criminals from stashing stolen funds in British bank accounts, part of a global crackdown on money laundering.

The Financial Services Authority said Wednesday that up to three-fourths of U.K. banks appear to be falling short of rules meant to prevent them from accepting illicit money from corrupt leaders, their associates and others.

The agency said it is eyeing enforcement charges against at least two banks, which it hasn’t publicly identified. The FSA is likely to pursue other disciplinary cases as well, a senior FSA official said.

FSA officials said that a yearlong review of the industry’s antimoney-laundering policies, based on examinations of 27 banks, found widespread failures, including a lack of attention by banks to the source of suspicious funds coming from overseas. In some cases, officials at some banks appeared to turn a blind eye to signs of money laundering for the sake of scoring lucrative business. Continue reading →

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Posted in UK Watch

FT: “The Game Is Still On”

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

Read more at Financial Times Tilt

On Wednesday, lawyers representing Saudi Arabia’s Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB, Algosaibi) conceded that the company is obliged to pay back about $250m in debt owed to a number of banks, led by HSBC, that were suing the company for repayment in London’s High Court.

Algosaibi’s much-publicised and highly complex defense centered on allegations that the debts were obtained by a rogue director of the company who acted fraudulently and without authorisation, although the director, Maan al-Sanea, was not a party to the London case.

The $22bn dispute between Algosaibi and Mr al-Sanea’s Saad Group, two giant Saudi business conglomerates, is a tricky case to read, not least because much of the real action is taking place behind palace gates in Saudi Arabia, no haven for investigative reporting.

But its public face takes place in the courtrooms of the US, UK, Cayman Islands and UAE, and proceedings in those jurisdictions give an insight into one of the biggest, yet lowest-profile, disasters of the financial crisis. Continue reading →

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Posted in UK Watch

The National: London court is told Al Gosaibi is victim of ‘master fraudster’

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Admin| Leave a comment

Read more at The National

A Saudi business group that collapsed under a US$9 billion (Dh33.05bn) tide of debt fell victim to the “brazen” activities of Maan al Sanea, London’s High Court heard yesterday.

Mr Justice Flaux was also told Mr al Sanea covered up the group’s “increasingly desperate” financial state while simultaneously “bleeding it dry”.

Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers are defending a $220 million lawsuit brought by five banks over claims that for decades it buried the “guilty secret” it was bust until it defaulted on its liabilities in 2009.

The banks’ QC, Greg Mitchell, earlier told the court Al Gosaibi’s investment division – The Money Exchange – may have been bust for the previous 20 years, but this was hidden – partly through a sense of “shame”.

But the al Gosaibi family’s QC, Ewan McQuater, yesterday hit back at claims his clients had had any inkling of the financial “catastrophe” building within the group, until it was too late to avert it.

He acknowledged that, as far back as the mid 1990s, senior figures at Al Gosaibi had “significant concerns” about the activities of Mr al Sanea, but there was nothing to indicate The Money Exchange might be on the brink of insolvency. Continue reading →

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Posted in UK Watch

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