Cayman Islands court finds Algosaibi, Al-Sanea firms complicit in 'fraud'

A Cayman Islands court has found two Saudi companies to be “complicit” in a $126 billion fraud, according to an official statement.

The ruling follows a 10-year dispute played out in various international courts between the Algosaibis and Maan Al-Sanea over who was to blame for the collapse of each other’s business empires.

In a judgment last Thursday, Honorable Anthony Smellie QC, the chief justice of the Cayman Islands, dismissed a $4 billion claim by Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company (AHAB) against Al-Sanea for alleged fraud involving an AHAB business unit called the Money Exchange, according to the statement.

The chief justice found that AHAB knew of and authorized the fraud carried out by Al-Sanea, said the judgment. He also dismissed a $5.9 billion counterclaim by Saad.

AHAB said in a statement that it was considering its legal options, adding that there was an automatic right of appeal but that any appeal was unlikely to be heard until 2019.