Al Ahli files $125 mln Saad fraud complaint

Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, the country’s fourth biggest listed lender by market value, has filed a complaint against Saudi billionaire Maan Al Sanea and Saad Trading, Contracting and Financial Services Co. seeking $125 million in compensation for alleged breach of contract and fraud, according to documents seen by the news agency Zawya Dow Jones.

News of the Al Ahli Bank complaint comes just days after two bankers told Zawya Dow Jones that al Sanea has reached an agreement with local banks to settle about 9.7 billion Saudi riyals ($2.59 billion) in outstanding loans.

Al Ahli Bank, in a New York filing dated Sept. 15, claims Saad broke conditions of a banking facilities agreement by “concealing numerous facts and circumstances concerning their financial situation, including the simultaneous borrowing of hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars from numerous other banks”.