Chronology: Maan Al Sanea Case, Introduction
Maan Al Sanea is a Saudi entrepreneur who was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 62nd richest man in the world in 2008. His wealth was based on the Saad Group of companies, which he founded in the 1970s and was based in Al Khobar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He established a varied corporate empire encompassing construction, real estate, financial services, healthcare, education, and worldwide investments, prior to its downfall during the 2008–2009 global financial crisis.
The Saad Group's enterprises functioned within the KSA and internationally in construction, engineering, and building, along with real estate development, financial services, investments, education, and healthcare, being based across the globe, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, London, Geneva, Dubai, and the Cayman Islands. Al Sanea's spouse and children were the shareholders of the Saad Hospital, located in Al Khobar, which has 1,200 beds and offers an independent nursing training college.
Due to the worldwide financial crisis in 2008, the firms under the Saad Group defaulted on massive dollar loans and encountered claims in the billions of dollars from over 30 financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and other regions.
The Maan Al Sanea Case originally came to light when two Bahraini banks failed in 2009, one owned by the Al Gosaibi family, which Al Sanea had married into and the other by Al Sanea himself, were left owing $22bn, of which the Al Gosaibi family say $9.2bn was stolen from them by Al Sanea.[1]
Since 2016, the demands from creditors concerning the Saad Group and the family were managed by the Joint Enforcement Department at the General Court in Al Khobar (JDEK), a civil enforcement tribunal comprised of three judges that was established due to the general civil enforcement court in Al Khobar at that time lacking the necessary capacity to manage the Al Sanea and other cases. Its goal is to guarantee that the maximum number of creditors is compensated during a liquidation process.[2]
Among its authorities, the JDEK could impose freezing orders, travel bans and detention orders for individuals requiring debts to be paid before the debtor was released. JDEK also has the power to arrange for the public prosecution to conduct investigations and interviews which it did when it became aware that not all the assets of Saad Trading, SICL, Al Sanea and his associates had not been disclosed.
From 2009 there was a freezing order in relation to Al Sanea and he was subject
to a travel ban. He failed to satisfy a significant number of judgments against him and Saad Trading which proceeded to enforcement; however, he was not imprisoned until October 2017 and detained in relation to unpaid debts, meaning he remains in Al Khobar Prison. His eldest son, Abdulaziz, was also detained, but was released on compassionate grounds in December 2017. The family remains subject to travel bans.
Sources
[1] Tom Arnold and Davide Barbuscia, Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to end $22-billion debt dispute - sources, Reuters, 01 February 2018
[2] Royal Courts of Justice, Al-Subaihi and Mr Jamal Al-Muzein Vs Mishal Maan Al Sanea, Littleton Chambers, 29 September 2021
