VZCZCXRO7153
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDH #0116/01 1520915
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 010915Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL DHAHRAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0149
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0188

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAHRAN 000116 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO NEA/ARP, CA/VO/L/C, S/SRAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/1/2019 
TAGS: PGOV ECON EFIN SA
SUBJECT: SAUDI CENTRAL BANK FREEZES ASSETS OF THE KINGDOM'S SECOND 
WEALTHIEST BILLIONAIRE 
 
DHAHRAN 00000116  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Julie Stinehart, Acting Consul General, EXEC, 
DOS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1. KEY POINTS: 
 
-- (C) The Saudi central bank froze assets of Ma'an al-Sanea, 
Saudi Arabia's second wealthiest citizen on May 30. 
 
-- (C) It appears the order was issued pursuant to a lawsuit the 
al-Gosaibi family has filed against al-Sanea for unpaid loans. 
 
-- (C) Al-Sanea is widely "known" to have the Emir of the 
Eastern Province (EP), Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, in his pocket 
as well as Crown Prince Sultan. 
 
-- (C) Al-Sanea currently has a U.S. visa application pending, 
which has been held up due to derogatory intelligence related to 
his financial activities. 
 
¶2. COMMENT: 
 
-- (C) Post believes this order from the central bank to freeze 
al-Sanea's assets must have come from the top, i.e. King 
Abdullah.  Nobody in the SAG, with the possible exception of 
Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Prince 
Nayef, would likely have the authority or tenacity to make this 
order against such a well-connected and wealthy man.  Although 
al-Sanea will likely recover financially from this situation, 
his prestige and standing will certainly be permanently 
downgraded.  This also is a testament to the influence and power 
of the al-Gosaibi family, a long-time key ally of the Al Saud 
family that pre-dates the founding of modern Saudi Arabia.  It 
is no small feat to convince the King to publicly humiliate the 
country's second wealthiest citizen, who enjoys deep connections 
within the royal family. 
 
MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS 
 
¶3. (C) Post contacts in the banking industry said that the Saudi 
Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has ordered all banks and 
financial institutions operating in Saudi Arabia to freeze the 
accounts of Ma'an al-Sanea, his family and business interests, 
including his state-of-the-art hospital in Khobar.  It appears 
that he and his immediate family may also have a travel ban in 
place.  The Watan newspaper ran a front-page article covering 
this story and international press outlets have picked up the 
story. 
 
¶4. (C) Post contacts believe that the asset freeze is the result 
of a suit the Ahmad Hamad Al-Gosaibi & Brothers company filed 
against al-Sanea regarding loans the billionaire is not 
acknowledging from The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), 
a sixty-year-old al-Gosaibi family financial institution.  Other 
banks have also filed similar suits against al-Sanea, which led 
to the asset freeze.  It appears that SAMA will not unfreeze the 
assets until al-Sanea pays off the loans, which total some $5 
billion, approximately $3 billion of which would go to the 
al-Gosaibi family. 
 
THE GOSAIBI FAMILY MATTERS 
 
¶5. (C) Al-Sanea is intimately connected to the al-Gosaibi family 
by marriage through his wife, who is the sister of Saud 
al-Gosaibi, the family's de facto number two in its patriarchal 
hierarchy.  Following the death of the influential and 
well-respected family patriarch Suleiman al-Gosaibi earlier this 
year, the al-Gosaibi family business has been in trouble.  The 
eldest brother and heir apparent, Yousef, has not shown interest 
in taking an active role in running the family's business.  Saud 
has been running the company's operations, but is overstretched 
and the company has been in the press recently with financial 
problems of its own. 
 
¶6. (C) As a close and trusted friend and in-law, al-Sanea served 
as managing director of the TIBC for many years, though it is 
unclear when he stopped serving in that role or if he ever did 
stop.  According to press reports, al-Gosaibi spokespeople claim 
that al-Sanea has been managing director of TIBC all along, but 
al-Sanea's Saad Group says that he hasn't been in that function 
for years.  Post contacts and PolOff believe that the truth is 
probably closer to the al-Gosaibi version.  In any case, it 
appears that al-Sanea used his influence at TIBC to make loans 
to his own company as well as guarantee loans to his associates 
and now refuses to acknowledge these debts. 
 
MONEY CAN'T BUY EVERYTHING 
 
¶7. (C) One more piece of the puzzle is that al-Sanea is widely 
viewed to have EP Emir Prince Mohammed bin Fahd in his pocket as 
 
DHAHRAN 00000116  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
well as being "close" to Crown Prince Sultan.  However, 
al-Sanea's influence over the royal family does not appear to 
reach to King Abdullah or Prince Nayef.  Al-Sanea has had some 
trouble in the past when a group of employees very close to him 
were arrested and jailed for operating an alcohol distribution 
ring.  Several contacts believe that al-Sanea was likely 
involved, but was able to avoid any trouble because of his 
connections in the royal family. 
 
¶8. (C) Finally, al-Sanea has been rumored to have been involved 
in money laundering activities, which was a source of ire for 
the royal family.  In fact, he currently has a U.S. visa 
application pending, which is being held up on intelligence that 
al-Sanea may have been involved in questionable financing 
activities. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON MA'AN AL-SANEA 
 
¶9. (C) Al-Sanea is listed in the Forbes March 2009 rankings as 
the 62nd richest person in the world and according to Arabian 
Business 2008 rankings he is the 3rd richest Arab in the world, 
with substantial holdings in Citigroup and HSBC.  His business 
interests include construction, real estate development, private 
education, hospitals, as well as the Saudi banking industry.  He 
was born in Kuwait and began to earn his wealth in the 1980's 
with the help of his powerful father-in-law, Abdulaziz 
al-Gosaibi.  Due to his influence and standing in the EP and 
Saudi Arabia as a whole, al-Sanea has been a long-time contact 
of several U.S. Ambassadors and the U.S. Consulate in Dhahran. 
As recently as February 2009, former Ambassador Fraker and 
STINEHART