Saudi Arabia Offers Arrested Royals A Deal: Your Freedom For Lots Of Cash

Tyler Durden's picture

As we noted shortly after the Crown Prince’s purge of potential rivals within Saudi Arabia’s sprawling ruling family, while the dozens of arrests were made under the pretext of an "anti-corruption crackdown", Mohammed bin Salman’s ulterior motive was something else entirely: Replenishing the Kingdom’s depleted foreign reserves, which have been hammered for the past three years by low oil prices, with some estimating that the current purge could potentially bring in up to $800 billion in proceeds.

Furthermore, the geopolitical turmoil unleashed by the unprecedented crackdown helped push oil prices higher, creating an ancillary benefit for both the kingdom’s rulers and the upcoming IPO of Aramco.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

And, in the latest confirmation that the crackdown was all about cash, the Financial Times reports today that the Saudi government has offered the new occupants of the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton a way out.... and it’s going to cost them: In some cases, as much as 70% of their net worth.

Saudi authorities are negotiating settlements with princes and businessmen held over allegations of corruption, offering deals for the detainees to pay for their freedom, people briefed on the discussions say.

 

In some cases the government is seeking to appropriate as much as 70 per cent of suspects’ wealth, two of the people said, in a bid to channel hundreds of billions of dollars into depleted state coffers.

 

The arrangements, which have already seen some assets and funds handed over to the state, provide an insight into the strategy behind Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s dramatic corruption purge.

The crackdown has led to the detention of hundreds of royals, ministers, officals and the country’s richest oligarchs including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire, Waleed al-Ibrahim, the founder of Middle East Broadcasting Center, which owns Al Arabiya, the Saudi satellite television channel, and Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the Saudi Binladin construction group and brother of Osama bin Laden.

Additionally, as we reported, the crackdown sent members of the country’s wealthy upper crust scrambling to liquidate their holdings and move their cash offshore, where they might have a better chance of keeping it away from the Saudi government.

Unsurprisingly, the Saudi "offer" is working.

Some of the suspects, most of whom have been rounded up at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh since last week, are keen to secure their release by signing over cash and corporate assets, the FT's sources say.

“They are making settlements with most of those in the Ritz,” said one adviser. “Cough up the cash and you will go home." 

 

One multi-billionaire businessman held at the Ritz-Carlton has been told to hand over 70% of his wealth to the state as a punishment for decades of involvement in allegedly corrupt business transactions. He wants to pay, but has yet to work out the details of transferring those assets to the Saudi state.

Settlements for royals will also include pledges of loyalty as MbS prepares himself to take the Saudi throne, though his father, King Salman, has vigorously denied these rumors.

One detainee told his staff that the authorities may be looking to take ownership of his main business. Families of detained suspects have started to hire consultants to assist efforts to secure their relatives’ release and to ring fence the damage to their business interests.

“They are looking for ways to isolate the tainted shareholder and keep the business going,” said the adviser.

The settlements aim to recover billions of dollars allegedly earned through “corruption” at a time when the government is grappling with a recession triggered by prolonged low oil prices and a budget deficit that widened to $79 billion last year.

The country’s attorney-general has said he is investigating allegations of corruption amounting to at least $100 billion - though the total value of assets seized could be as high as $800 billion. Though the Financial Times puts the high-end figure at a relatively modest $300 billion; to make up for the delta, more arrests are still expected.

Regular Saudis, who’ve seen their benefits cut and some of their jobs taken away, support MbS’s decision.  “Why should the poor take all the pain of austerity,” said one Saudi academic. “The rich need to pay their way too.”

In Saudi Arabia, they are about to do just that.

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dark pools of soros's picture

thats why they tried to take him out in vegas

HenryKissingerZuckerberg's picture

go free if you are rich... like in the USA?

mtl4's picture

Tell me how this will work on Soros, I'm all ears.

bobcatz's picture

Not just on Soros, but on the whole gang that's been ROBBING America. https://goo.gl/bFYusM

Joe Davola's picture

Isn't this how it works in most countries - you got the cash, you walk.

RAT005's picture

This is going to get some Snowflakes dreaming of some big USA plans.

YUNOSELL's picture

Cash me outside -- how bow dat

overbet's picture

interesting article. some peices fit nicely together

Joe Davola's picture

Working on my business plan for MaaS right now.

I'm thinking of calling it Software Defined Boots On the Terra Virtuallia.

Whoa Dammit's picture

Someone in KSA needs to study up on Venezuela and capital flight.

biker_trash's picture

Sure looks like MBS in the Tropicana video, but its too blurry to see his facial details. Has this been confirmed anywhere? This is clearly someone being protected and rushed out of the hotel. Guns were drawn on casino patrons because the team was not sure about the exact location of threat. There really would be no explaination for this event outside a of government or the military. Cannot be explained by local security or police activities. 

Middle Eastern Guy - Yes

Balding black hair - Yes

Facial Hair - Yes

Height ~6.3" - Yes

Head shape similar - Yes

Dressed weirdly and inappropriately for a guy being escorted and protected by a team of paramilitary types - yes

ne-tiger's picture

Great, let's celebrate by super-duper freedom fries for congress!

auricle's picture

I can think of a few americans who have gotten rich from graft. Anyone with the title of President or CEO is a good place to start, especially of now defunct companies. 

YUNOSELL's picture

Reminds me of Schindler's List

Yukon Cornholius's picture

Any employee of any level of government is complicit in legal theft. In fact, their livlihoods depend on it.

bloostar's picture

I thought it was heads.. usually from the shoulders up. Saudi execution cutbacks.. times must be tough.

cheech_wizard's picture

BEB, short for "bullets ending bloodlines"...

Standard Disclaimer: It's not like any members of the Romanov family are walking around today...

 

webmatex's picture

Soros prepared and put his loot - $19B in the Trust - adds extra protection and  generations tax free.

Think of the children.

Maybe Trump could pull an MDB on DC to help with the tax cuts?

evoila's picture

They’re trying to pay for the war with the Iranians. That’s what this whole thing was about. I mean you have a 32yo kid with a $600m yacht railing against corruption. Give me an effing break. Only idiots buy this shit.

Erek's picture

Is this the new way to tax the rich? ...Being that it already works so well on the poor.

Carl Spackler's picture

Hello. It’s a monarchy.

The kid could become King any day and wield absolute power.

That skiff will become the royal yacht when decreed by the new King.

PR problem solved.

evoila's picture

Catches fire beforehand and the whole world covers the story. PR nightmare on hands. 

Implied Violins's picture

That picture I saw of him sitting next to Christine Lagarde was all I needed to see to know he's just another globalist tool.

small axe's picture

government everywhere functions at the level of a street gang

Gatto's picture

Coming to a US state near you, real soon!

shankster's picture

Same in the 'usa' pay the IRS your money or go to jail.

Dukes's picture

The hair, stache and glasses scream 1983

Is that Eugene Levy?

booboo's picture

"you broke my heart Fredo, give me 60 billion and you can heal it"

ParkAveFlasher's picture

"What about me?!  I'm smaht!  Not like everyone says..."

wcvarones's picture

Father Guido Sarducci.

I woke up's picture

When you surround yourself with people that suck up to you you'll never get someone to say your style is 30 years old

LawsofPhysics's picture

Sounds like the IRS,  to whit the response is "what cash?"

hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

So sad that we wasted so many young American lives in the Gulf Wars to prop up these evil motherfuckers and the Bush Family Syndicate, not to mention the millions of people they killed.

War is a racket!

Peacefulwarrior's picture

HW is on the waiting list to be have his "total and complete consciousnes" transferred into a Google Bot..

OverTheHedge's picture

How do you "transfer", rather than copy?  Any deletion is actually death, but the copy lives on. I never understood the benefit of having a copy of you become immortal: the copy would think he was you, but you would be dead, and the copy would just be a copy. Great for keeping the wife happy, but not so good for you. Still, at least you would rest easy, knowing the rubbish (trash?) was being taken out on a regular basis.

If your man Bush does transfer his consciousness, at least you can be smug, knowing he is actually dead as a doornail, even if his doppelganger does rule the world.

Stopdreaming's picture

This is nothing new...all wars are banker wars...Vietnam, WWII, WWI...on and on and on and on...most people are asleep.  TPTB want to keep it that way...

Go buy another monster truck and another iPhone to keep you zombified and hypnotized LOL

south40_dreams's picture

Your money, or your life

buzzsaw99's picture

jew response:  hold on a minute, i'm thinking about it.

Mr. Universe's picture

Followed by "Ok you can have her...oh I thought you said wife".

Bill of Rights's picture

" What we have here is failure to communicate "

 

Another words what he's saying is, we know you have money abroad come clean or it comes clean off...Hows that Clinton foundation working out?

BigWillyStyle887's picture

LoLing so hard right now