Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin-Salman, who replaced his elder cousin Mohammad bin-Nayef to become next in line to the throne after his father King Salman by a royal decree tightened his grip on power as anti-corruption committee arrests scores of princes, several senior officials, and incumbent ministers. The king had decreed the creation of a powerful new anti-corruption committee, headed by the crown prince, only hours before the committee ordered the arrests. This was the biggest corruption crackdown taken up by the Saudi authority.
The people arrested included big names like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is one of the richest men on the planet with stakes in western media as well as in western companies like Citigroup, Apple, 21st century Fox, Twitter and many other well-known companies. He was widely considered as the face of Saudi Arabia’s business community and his arrest has sparked a wide range of concerns among foreign investors. According to Forbes, his net worth was estimated at $17 billion.
Reports came out this week suggesting that Prince Alwaleed has been freed. On the same day, the reports of his release surfaced, Saudi Arabia’s Attorney General said that Saudi corruption crackdown has yielded more than $106 billion.
Reports are now coming out that freed Prince Talal gave up most of his wealth in order to secure his freedom. However, Prince’s spokesperson has declined to comment on the reports while Saudi embassy spokesman in the United States refused to give specific details on individuals as it is against the privacy law.
