A Multi-billion Dollar Dispute, Middle East Family Business and Trusting the In-laws

Al-Sanea set up the Saad Group in the early 1980s and in the meantime married one of the daughters of the founders of AHAB. Before the financial crisis of 2008/2009, the Saad Group was estimated to have assets worth around $30 billion. A trusted in-law, Al-Sanea was put in charge of the AHAB’s financial-services business, the Money Exchange. But things went awry when the financial crisis hit in  2008/2009. It is alleged by the plaintiff AHAB that over a twenty-year period, Al-Sanea took out loans, most unsecured, on the strength of the AHAB name. Hit by the financial crisis, banks stopped lending and AHAB defaulted on payment to them, which led to its financial difficulties. The sums involved amount to billions of dollars.