BEIRUT: More than 200 people have been summoned for questioning, and most are still detained, in a wide-ranging crackdown that Saudi Arabia says is aimed at rooting out corruption and reclaiming embezzled funds, the government said Thursday.
The kingdom’s attorney general, Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb, said in a statement that Saudi authorities believed that at least $100 billion "had been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades".
The statement provided new details about the crackdown, which has singled out some of the kingdom’s most prominent princes, investors and media moguls, but left many questions unanswered.
The government has portrayed the arrests as a crackdown on corruption, but critics see the detentions as an effort by the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to neutralise any remaining power centres in the kingdom that could challenge his rule. They also note that in a monarchy like Saudi Arabia, the blurry lines between public and private money make it unclear what exactly qualifies as corruption.
In the statement, the attorney-general said that 208 people had been summoned for questioning and that seven had been released without being charged. The arrests, he said, were based on three years of investigations that produced "very large" evidence.
It was unclear which body had carried out the investigations since the Supreme Anti-Corruption Committee that is leading the campaign was created only hours before the first arrests were made on Saturday.
The statement did not name any of those arrested, who include 11 princes, like Alwaleed bin Talal, the kingdom’s most famous investor, and Mutaib bin Abdullah, the former head of the National Guard and a son of the previous king.
No charges have been publicly specified, and it is not clear what legal process would be used to prosecute the accused. Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, whose judicial system follows Shariah law and has no notable record of trying corruption cases.
The government has said the anti-corruption campaign was a necessary part of Prince Mohammed’s efforts to clean up the economy to attract international investors. Analysts, however, have said that the arrests could scare investors and international companies.
Mr al-Mojeb’s statement sought to reassure investors that the kingdom’s financial system was functioning normally despite the arrests, noting that the finances of those under arrest had been frozen but not those of their businesses.
"Normal commercial activity in the kingdom is not affected by these investigations," he said. "Only personal bank accounts have been suspended. Companies and banks are free to continue with transactions as usual."
President Donald Trump has strongly backed King Salman and the crown prince over the crackdown, saying on Twitter that they "know exactly what they are doing".
But administration officials have been vague over what they know about the details of the Saudi prosecutions.
Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters in Washington on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson had spoken once with his Saudi counterpart, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, and had encouraged the Saudis to "pursue prosecution of corruption in a fair and transparent manner".
As for the possible result of such prosecutions, she said, "the government of Saudi Arabia would have to address that."