Saudi Arabia’s corruption crackdown is done — for now, says commerce minister
Washington — Saudi Arabia had completed the main wave of arrests in its sweeping crackdown on corruption and was preparing to channel billions of dollars of seized funds into economic development projects, a Saudi minister said on Monday. "As far as I know, this is the case," Commerce and Investment Minister Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi told Reuters when asked whether authorities had finished taking large numbers of top officials and businessmen into custody. "Now the government will not keep its mouth shut when it sees a corrupt case. So definitely it will act. But this is — in terms of its magnitude, in terms of scale, in terms of how, in terms of why, in terms of now, that’s it," he said. Dozens of princes, officials and businessmen were detained last month, about 200 people were questioned, and more than 2,000 bank accounts were frozen in the purge, which has strengthened the authority of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Some suspects will go to court but authorities are seekin...
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