Author Reveals Number of Detained Saudi Princes

The Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper quoted Jamal Khashoqchi as saying that 250 to 300 businesspersons are detained in Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh which is called the 'golden prison', adding that some 20 are the Saudi princes.

"As Saudi Arabia has a corrupt prince for every corrupted businessperson, then where are the remaining corrupt princes," he asked.

Reports said last month that Riyadh seems to have found the way to curb the budget deficit caused by lower oil prices. Saudi officials are offering the arrested royals a deal, pay up to 70 percent of your wealth and go free.

The Saudi government could appropriate hundreds of billions of dollars from the arrested to refill depleted state reserves.

The arrested include Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, businessman Waleed al-Ibrahim, the founder of the Middle East Broadcasting Center, which owns the Saudi satellite television channel Al Arabiya, and Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the Saudi Binladin construction firm.

The billionaires are being detained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh.

“They are making settlements with most of those in the Ritz,” FT’s source said. “Cough up the cash, and you will go home.”

The Wall Street Journal reported in November that arrests of Saudi royals, ministers, and businessmen could lead to the confiscation of cash and other assets worth at least $800 billion.

Saudi Arabia has faced a significant budget deficit since the oil price collapsed. It stood at $79 billion last year. To cut the deficit, Riyadh has tried to implement fiscal measures, including spending cuts, raising taxes, bond sales and a future public offering of part of the kingdom’s oil monopoly Saudi Aramco.

Experts have said the latest Saudi corruption purge is about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidating power before taking the throne. Others see it as an attempt to modernize Saudi Arabia. The crown prince has explained the arrests as part of his determination to root out corruption, a precondition of a more open economy.