Saturday, January 27, 2018

Billionaire Saudi Prince al-Waleed Is Released From Detention

A noticeably thinner and aged Prince al-Waleed bin Talal sits in the office of the suite where he had been detained at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. 

Saudi authorities on Saturday released billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal more than two months after he was detained, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Prince al-Waleed is already at his house in Riyadh and is expected to resume his business activities as normal, reports WSJ.

Sources claim, Saudi authorities demanded at least $6 billion from Prince al-Waleed to free him. It wasn’t clear if Prince al-Waleed agreed to any settlement for his release.

Saudi Arabia has secured about $100 billion in total after many of the more than 200 detained, many cousins of the Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salaam agreed to settle and were released, Saudi officials said.

The public prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that officials were moving ahead with plans to prosecute 95 people who were still detained and have declined to pay what the government describes as financial settlements.

Prince al-Waleed is one of the world’s richest men and holder of stakes in companies including Twitter Inc. and Four Seasons Hotel & Resorts.

   -RW

1 comment:

  1. This reminds me of Lysander Spooner's comparison of the highwayman and the government when it comes to taxes:

    http://files.libertyfund.org/pll/quotes/306.html.

    In Saudi Arabia, the government detains you and demands that you pay taxes to be set free. In the US, the government tries to tell you that taxes are for your benefit, but will detain you if you don't pay up. At least they're more honest about it over there.

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