Crown Prince: Ritz-Carlton corruption crackdown based on King’s instructions
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the Ritz Carlton incident of 2017 was the government cracking down on corruption based on Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman’s instructions.
Asked in an interview with The Atlantic magazine published on Thursday on why a high-profile hotel was used for the investigation, the Crown Prince said the reason was because those investigated were not under arrest. “They were given two options: to negotiate settlements or be turned to public prosecution.”
“Almost 95 percent chose the negotiation path. So up to that part they’re not criminals, we cannot put them in jail. They agreed to stay in the Ritz-Carlton to negotiate, to close the negotiations. And I believe that almost 90 percent of the negotiations have been closed. The rest, the ones who refused to negotiate, they turned to public prosecution based on Saudi law,” he said.
The Crown Prince highlighted that the operation was based on the King’s instructions in 2015 to “get rid of corruption”. “The government started collecting and preparing the files from 2015 to 2017, and to discuss the best course of action. And then the action was taken by the King.”
He also noted that the operation was successful in discouraging anyone from choosing the path of corruption in the Kingdom in the future.
“[It] was a strong signal. And then some people thought Saudi Arabia was, you know, just trying to get the big whales, the good big, corrupted whales. But I believe [by] 2019 to 2020, they understood even if you steal $100, you're going to pay for it,” he added.
“Almost 95 percent chose the negotiation path. So up to that part they’re not criminals, we cannot put them in jail. They agreed to stay in the Ritz-Carlton to negotiate, to close the negotiations. And I believe that almost 90 percent of the negotiations have been closed. The rest, the ones who refused to negotiate, they turned to public prosecution based on Saudi law,” he said.
The Crown Prince highlighted that the operation was based on the King’s instructions in 2015 to “get rid of corruption”. “The government started collecting and preparing the files from 2015 to 2017, and to discuss the best course of action. And then the action was taken by the King.”
He also noted that the operation was successful in discouraging anyone from choosing the path of corruption in the Kingdom in the future.
“[It] was a strong signal. And then some people thought Saudi Arabia was, you know, just trying to get the big whales, the good big, corrupted whales. But I believe [by] 2019 to 2020, they understood even if you steal $100, you're going to pay for it,” he added.
