Saudi Arabia has recovered more than $ 100 billion from its corrupt billionaires
Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it has already recovered more than 400 billion rials (107 billion dollars) from people arrested for corruption, the BBC reports.
On Nov. 4th , Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud took steps to strengthen his power by setting up an anti-corruption committee, which decided to arrest senior officials and businessmen from Saudi Arabia.
Among the arrested were three of the richest Saudis, including Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and businessman Fawaz Alhokair.
Several suspects have been released from detention after they have entered into agreements to make payments "with various types of assets, including real estate, commercial entities, cash and other assets," announced general prosecutor Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb . A large number of those arrested spent their detention at the Riad-Carlton luxury hotel in Riad.
Sheikh Saud specified that 381 people received citations. Some have been released because not enough evidence has been found, others have acknowledged the allegations of corruption and have entered into agreements with the Government. There are still 56 people imprisoned.
One of the most famous suspects, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, was released on Saturday, but the conditions for his release are unknown, and officials have not commented on his situation.
Last week, Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister announced that some of the recovered money would be used to mitigate the effects of lowering subsidies and tax increases.
On Sunday, Kingdom Holding stocks registered a 10% price increase on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange - the daily maximum allowed - after the owner of the investment fund, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, was released.
Kingdom Holding - the Saudi investment fund set up by Alwaleed Bin Talal in 1979 - has lost $ 2.2 billion in stock market capitalization. Alwaleed Bin Talal had been charged with money laundering and bribery.
The shares of fashion retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair, whose majority shareholder Fawaz Alhokair was also released, rose by 7.6%.
For many foreigners, Prince Alwaleed - whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at 17 billion dollars - is the symbol of business in Saudi Arabia, often appearing in international television and the press, through articles on his investment.
Direct and indirect, through Kingdom Holding, he holds stakes in Citigroup, the Twitter social network, the Lyft ride-hailing company, Accor's French hotel chain, the Time Warner media group, and Banque Saudi Fransi.
Prince Alwaleed, 62, told Reuters before being released that he is innocent and is not about to sell state assets. During detention, he was able to communicate with the directors of Kingdom Holding, who will remain in his possession.
Saudi Arabia has been experiencing a deepening of the budget deficit in recent years, due to the collapse of world oil prices. Among the financial recovery measures adopted by the authorities are the introduction for the first time of a 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) for most goods and services, the doubling of fuel prices or the sale of state oil companies.
At the end of last month, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the target date for eliminating the budget deficit was postponed to 2023 instead of the baseline of 2020 to reduce economic growth pressures.
In April last year, Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed a vast reform plan, called "Vision 2030," which aims to diversify the Saudi economy, which largely depends on oil exports.
