Saudi Arabia is setting up an organisation to manage assets relinquished by detainees as part of settlement agreements in the crackdown on corruption, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The kingdom is talking to consultants about how to set up the entity, which will evaluate and potentially sell holdings handed over by billionaires and princes in exchange for their freedom, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
Hani Halawani, head of direct investments at Sanabil Investments, part of the Public Investment Fund, will help run the organisation, the people said. The government’s Centre for International Communication didn’t respond to a request for comment. Halawani didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Saudi authorities are hoping to reach agreements with detainees “within weeks” after the arrests at the beginning of November, according to the kingdom’s attorney general. Authorities could recover as much as $100 billion from the settlement deals, according to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, one of the most senior Saudi royals detained in the crackdown, was released at the end of November after reaching a settlement deal believed to exceed the equivalent of $1 billion, an official involved in the campaign said at the time.
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