RIYADH – Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia’s richest man, detained during the kingdom’s sweeping crackdown on corruption, on Saturday expressed that his arrest was going to end in coming days.
In his first interview with a British media outlet since his detainment at Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, the confident prince said that he would be cleared of any financial wrongdoing and set free.
Denying any charges against him, he said that there are just talks between him and the authorities, adding that he would get released without giving up assets to the government. According to Reuters, he said: “I believe we are on the verge of finishing everything within days.”
The prince also refused the rumours of mistreatment during the arrest, adding that he was staying in the hotel with his preferred things and was not shifted to the prison.
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Dozens of princes, senior officials, and top businessmen were taken into custody after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched anti-corruption drive in November last year.
The anti-corruption purge, which Saudi Arabia calls a probe against estimated $100 billion embezzlements, was reported immediately after a new anti-corruption commission, headed by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was established by royal decree late Saturday.
Talal, who is worth more than $17bn according to Forbes, and owns stakes in Twitter, Lyft and Citigroup, besides holding global investment firm Kingdom Holding Co, is facing charges of money laundering, bribery and extorting officials.
On Friday, CNBC reported that several prominent businessmen have reached financial settlements with Saudi authorities.
It quoting sources said, “They include Waleed al-Ibrahim, owner of regional television network MBC; Fawaz Alhokair, a major shareholder in fashion retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co; Khalid al-Tuwaijri, a former chief of the Royal Court; and Turki bin Nasser, a former head of the country’s meteorology and environmental protection agency”.
