Newspaper: Bin Salman is holding a deal with the princes arrested to give up two-thirds of their we

Alsumaria News / Baghdad , the 
newspaper said the Financial Times British Saudi authorities negotiate for contract settlements with princes and businessmen held against the backdrop of allegations of corruption, and offering deals on detainees to pay for their freedom, according to people familiar with the negotiations. 

According to two people familiar with the British Financial Times, the government is seeking in some cases to obtain up to 70% of the wealth of suspects, in an effort to bring hundreds of billions of dollars to the depleted state coffers.




The arrangement, which already saw the transfer of assets and funds to the state, provides a closer look at the strategy behind the royal cleansing campaign of the Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman , against corruption. 

Some of the detainees are eager to secure their release by waiving cash assets and companies, according to one adviser. "They settle with most of those at the Ritz." "They handed over the money and you will go to your homes." 

This comes at a time when the government is facing a recession caused by the long decline in oil prices and the budget deficit of 79 billion dollars last year. More arrests are likely as the government expands its graft investigation. 

Waiver of 70% of your wealth

The newspaper says he has asked a top billionaire businessman held at the Ritz to hand over 70 percent of his wealth to the state as a punishment for decades of involvement in alleged corruption operations. One of his advisers said that businessman tends to pay, but details of the mechanisms of return of assets and funds are not yet known. 

Detained businessmen are required to hand over their assets. The adviser also added that compromises for the cases of those belonging to the royal family could also include pledges to owe allegiance to Prince Mohammed. 

Another detainee told his staff that the authorities might be looking to seize his main company. Families of detained suspects have begun hiring consultants to help secure the release of their relatives and contain the losses to their business interests.

"They are looking for ways to isolate the involved shareholders and keep their business going," the adviser said. 

Counselors for some of the detainees said the campaign had extended to their clients by surprise. 

For example, one of the detainees met with representatives of Prince Mohammed bin Salman weeks before his detention in Jeddah and was convinced that the meeting was fruitful and assumed to guide him on the path to continue his expanding interests domestically and internationally. 

Prince Alwaleed, who owns shares in companies such as Citigroup and Twitter , the son of one of King Salman's brothers, publicly expressed support for Prince Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to reform the kingdom before he was arrested on charges of bribery and extortion. 

Many Saudis say the move is positive, at a time when the average citizen is saddled with the burden of recession.

"The poor have not had to bear the burden of austerity, the rich have to pay," said one Saudi academic.