Crown Prince: The anti-corruption drive was 'extremely necessary'

Saudi Arabia's anti-corruption crackdown was ‘extremely necessary’ to punish the corrupt and send a clear signal that whoever engages in corrupt deals will face the law, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with US television network CBS.

"The amount exceeds $100 billion, but the real objective was not this amount or any other amount,” he said.

“The idea is not to get money (however)," he said in an interview with the "60 Minutes" news program aired on Sunday night, ahead of the Prince’s official US visit starting today.

The TV network also spoke to Mohammed Al-Sheikh, a Saudi, Harvard-trained lawyer and one of the Crown Prince's closest advisers.

Al-Sheikh said corruption wasted some $10 to $20 billion of the State’s fortunes annually.

"Probably five to ten percent of the annual spending by the government… anywhere between $10-20 billion (were wasted in corrupt practices).”

"It wasn't easy. Just given the names and the people who were involved, it really wasn't easy. But we just felt that we had to do this. And we had to do it that way," added Al-Sheikh.

In January, Saudi Arabia’s ad-hoc anti-corruption committee estimated the proceeds from settlements with charged personalities at over SAR 400 billion ($107 billion).