Saudis intervene in Gosaibi dispute

From left: Mohammed Al Ghamdi, Hamad Al Gosaibi and Mohamed Al Gosaibi before the start of Al Gosaibi creditors meeting in Dubai in June. Pawan Singh / The National

Saudi Arabia’s authorities have intervened in the long-­running dispute between the Al Gosaibi family and their estranged member, Maan Al Sanea, to force a multi-billion dollar settlement.

The country’s Supreme Judicial Council has set up a special enforcement tribunal in Al Khobar, the city in the kingdom’s eastern province where the protagonists are based.

The three-man tribunal has the "sole charge completing and settling these two cases", according to the official order, a copy of which has been seen by The National.

The move is the clearest sign yet that the Saudis want an end to the seven-year-old dispute, which has embarrassed the country in international financial circles and could weigh on its creditworthiness as it seeks to tap the world’s debt markets.

The Al Gosaibi family and Mr Al Sanea, who owns the troubled Saad Group conglomerate, have been at loggerheads since 2009 when their businesses were unable to repay creditors who had advanced billions of US dollars.

The collapse sparked a storm of legal actions around the world, with the Al Gosaibis alleging fraud, forgery and theft against Mr Al Sanea, charges that he has consistently denied and fought in law courts on three continents.

The official order in Saudi Arabia says that the appointment of a special tribunal is “because of the significant amount of debts claimed reaching a total of approximately 30 billion Saudi riyals [Dh29.3bn], and because these debts can harm the reputation of the local economy and relations with local and foreign banks”.

The order goes on to say that the decision was taken “in light of the diversity and number of assets under enforcement, based on the business activities of both companies and any ensuing enforcement disputes that may arise regarding rights and privileges to the investment portfolios”.

Early in the dispute, Mr Al Sanea reached an agreement with Saudi creditors that protected him from court action in the country. He did not reach a similar deal with international banks, which have persisted with legal action in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world to recover their loans.

Ahmed Hamed Al Gosaibi and Brothers (Ahab), the family partnership that runs the businesses, is in the process of finalising a deal with international creditors over its portion of the debts, which runs to US$6bn.

Ahab has yet to reach a deal with Saudi creditors.

Travel bans and asset freezes remain in place on both parties, but could be lifted to enable a settlement to proceed.

None of the parties to the dispute were available for comment.

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