A Saudi billionaire with stakes in some of Britain’s biggest companies is at the centre of a multi-billion-dollar fraud that threatens to send financial shock-waves around the world, a New York judge will hear this week.
A Saudi billionaire with stakes in some of Britain’s biggest companies is at the centre of a multi-billion-dollar fraud that threatens to send financial shock-waves around the world, a New York judge will hear this week.
Maan Al Sanea, the boss of the Saad Group, which owns 2.9pc of HSBC and a stake in Berkeley Group, is accused of embezzling $9.2bn (£5.6bn) from one of Saudi Arabia’s most powerful families, the Algosaibis, as part of a complicated and increasingly bitter legal row between the two dynasties.
The Algosaibis, who are being sued in New York by a Dubai bank for the alleged non-payment of $150m, have filed as their defence claims that the missing money is a result of Mr Al Sanea using their name to do transactions without their knowledge.
They allege that it is one example of how Mr Al Sanea, who formerly headed a financial division of their empire, borrowed the money over many years using the Algosaibis’ name without their knowledge or permission.
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