Riyadh - Assets
A well-informed source stated that following the seizure of Al-Ajhouri’s assets, the financial claims of the entitled parties have reached 656 million Saudi riyals, the Administrative Court (Board of Grievances) ordered that Al-Ajhouri’s assets abroad be tracked and that his relatives residing in various countries be pursued.
The President of the Administrative Court, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Nassar, had directed the Secretariat “Al-Ajhouri’s Bankruptcy Administration”—which is responsible for inventorying and settling financial claims—to take the necessary measures to track Al-Ajhouri’s assets and pursue his relatives residing outside the Kingdom, based on reports submitted by the First Commercial Division of the Administrative Court in Jeddah.
Saleh Al-Naim, the certified public accountant for the “Al-Ajhouri Bankruptcy Administration,” stated that the administration, headed by Dr. Abdullah bin Omar Nasif, filed a request in this regard with the First Commercial Division of the Administrative Court in Jeddah, after the Bankruptcy Secretariat had submitted several requests to the enforcement judge in Makkah, following which Al-Ajhouri was imprisoned.
He explained that several judgments have been issued against Al-Ajhouri and his relatives residing outside the Kingdom for years, the first of which orders them jointly and severally to pay an amount exceeding 500 million riyals, and the second for 119 million riyals. Another case is still pending against Al-Ajhouri, seeking 36 million riyals, bringing the total amount claimed by the Bankruptcy Secretariat on behalf of its investors to 656 million riyals.
He noted that Al-Ajhouri is currently in prison pending the enforcement of the final judgments issued against him and his relatives jointly, after he was released by a gracious royal decree for a period of three years, on the condition that he cooperate with the bankruptcy trustee to recover the funds he transferred abroad thirty years ago.
He confirmed that the court’s latest decision mandates the tracing of Al-Ajhouri’s and his relatives“ assets abroad, including properties in Spain, Switzerland, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, and that he has already begun investigations and gathering information regarding Al-Ajhouri’s assets abroad, adding that: ”Al-Ajhouri has committed on several occasions to providing a bank guarantee of 750 million riyals, which confirms that Al-Ajhouri and his relatives possess more than this amount; otherwise, he would not have committed to issuing a letter of guarantee for such a large sum.“
He added that ”preliminary information indicates that Al-Ajhouri recently received transfers from abroad amounting to several million riyals, and efforts are underway to identify the sources of these bank transfers. Furthermore, with the issuance of the recent judicial rulings, a new door of hope has opened for Al-Ajhouri’s investors to recover more of their dues, which have remained in the possession of Al-Ajhouri and his family for thirty years.“
Al-Naim concluded that: ”Al-Ajhouri has not repaid a single riyal of the funds he smuggled out of the Kingdom, with which he purchased several companies, real estate properties, and hotels in Spain, as well as factories and real estate in Egypt, and traded in gold in the Emirate of Dubai, using Switzerland as a hub for money laundering since the year 1403 AH, noting that the number of investors in Al-Ajhouri’s ventures is 8,765 investors from 37 Arab, Islamic, and foreign nationalities.”
