Bankers held in Bahrain allege libel

A London-based private investigator libellously accused three British executives of a $2bn scam in a bank collapse that has led to them being banned from leaving the Gulf state of Bahrain, according to a High Court claim. Hibis Europe wrongly alleged the trio had “systematically perpetrated a criminal fraud on a giant scale”, state the documents, which highlight the risks facing private detectives commissioned to probe suspected financial wrongdoing in corporations.

The alleged defamation – contested by Hibis – is the latest twist in a bitter legal dispute between two Saudi Arabian tycoons that has dragged in big financial institutions and executives from the surrounding region and beyond.

Court documents filed by the three bankers – Anthony James, Alistair McLeod and Cliff Giddings – say Hibis defamed them in a report to Bahrain’s public prosecutor on the demise last year of Awal Bank, where they were all senior managers.