FT.com / Middle East - US urged to probe Saudi business spat

A senior Republican congressman has urged the Department of Justice to examine whether the US banking system was used for money laundering or fraud in connection with a multibillion dollar dispute between two Saudi companies.

Peter King, the senior Republican member of the House of Representatives homeland security committee, said he was concerned about “potential lapses in oversight over the national banking system that may allow US financial institutions to perpetuate massive global money laundering originating from persons in the Middle East”.

Mr King expressed his concerns in a letter to Eric Holder, the US attorney general. He was referring to allegations made in a bitter dispute between two family-owned Saudi businesses, Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) and Saad Group, owned by the billionaire Maan al-Sanea.