NY hearing to focus on venue for fraud case

* username: rupertbu

Lawyers are set to debate today whether New York is the proper forum for claims against Maan al Sanea, the Saudi billionaire accused of a US$10 billion (Dh36.72bn) fraud against Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, a Saudi family-owned conglomerate.

The hearings spring from cases originally brought last summer in New York by the Dubai-based Mashreqbank against the Al Gosaibi group after it defaulted on a foreign exchange transaction worth $150 million. Al Gosaibi has acknowledged the default, but claims it was due to Mr al Sanea’s alleged fraud.

Mr al Sanea, who is accused of carrying out the fraud when he headed Al Gosaibi’s remittance business, has denied the charges.