The head of a Saudi royal commission has been arrested on corruption charges

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The CEO overseeing Saudi Arabia's royal commission for its historic al-Ula site has been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges over some $55 million in contracts, officials said.

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This article was published 29/01/2024 (967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The CEO overseeing Saudi Arabia’s royal commission for its historic al-Ula site has been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges over some $55 million in contracts, officials said.

The charges target Amr bin Saleh Abdulrahman al-Madani in part over “illegally obtaining” contracts to benefit a private company he had interests in through a relative before joining the government, the kingdom’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority said in a statement late Sunday. The contracts relate to the Kingdom Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, the statement said.

It said Al-Madani also recommended that private company for additional contracts through his work on the commission for al-Ula, an ancient desert city that’s been one focus of Saudi Arabia’s push for tourists.

FILE -In this photograph made on Thursday, May 10, 2012, a foreign tourist visits the Abu Lawha, the largest Nabataean tomb at the desert archaeological site of Madain Saleh, in Al Ula city, 1043 km (648 miles) northwest of the capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The CEO overseeing Saudi Arabia’s royal commission for its historic al-Ula site has been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges over some $55 million in contracts. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE -In this photograph made on Thursday, May 10, 2012, a foreign tourist visits the Abu Lawha, the largest Nabataean tomb at the desert archaeological site of Madain Saleh, in Al Ula city, 1043 km (648 miles) northwest of the capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The CEO overseeing Saudi Arabia’s royal commission for its historic al-Ula site has been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges over some $55 million in contracts. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

It was not clear if al-Madani had a lawyer. The statement of the charges also were carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, conducted a wide-ranging sweep of arrests after taking power over alleged corruption charges in 2017 that saw princes and other powerful members of its business community locked up in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the capital, Riyadh. That netted the government around $106.6 billion and secured Prince Mohammed’s power base.

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