Saudi Arabian authorities have carried out further arrests and frozen more bank accounts under an expanding anti-corruption crackdown that was announced last Saturday against the Kingdom’s political and business elite, Reuters reported, quoting official sources.
Since the campaign kickoff, dozens of royal family members, officials and business executives have already been held in the purge. They face allegations of money laundering, bribery, extortion and exploiting public office for personal gain.
According to the sources, the anti-corruption authorities have also frozen the bank accounts of Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, one of the most senior members of the ruling Al Saud, and some of his immediate family members.
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Nayef, known as MbN, was ousted as Crown Prince in June when King Salman replaced him with the then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Those who were held most recently include individuals with links to the immediate family of the late Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz who died in 2011, the sources noted.
“Others appear to be lower-level managers and officials,” the sources told Reuters.
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Since Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s central bank has been expanding the list of accounts it is requiring lenders to freeze on an almost hourly basis, according to an official banker, who preferred anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
The number of domestic bank accounts frozen as a result of the purge is over 1,700 and rising, up from 1,200, the banker added.