The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has announced a reversal of a 1999 decision to allow funds to be transferred in and out of the kingdom to Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi & Co because of violations of anti-money laundering laws and other crimes, SAMA has announced.
In a statement, SAMA said that the decision is based on the firm’s “violations of anti-money laundering law and its executive regulations, anti-terrorism crimes and financing regulations and its executive regulations, anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules and rules governing the conduct of money exchange activates.”
SAMA has urged that consumers review their dealings with the company. In cases in which the company does not respond, SAMA has asked that consumers file a complaint within a three-month period.
Saudi billionaire Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi has a portfolio of agriculture, energy and construction companies in Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Ethiopia, including oil refiner Preem.
In 2017, however, he was one of dozens of prominent businessmen who was taken into detention as part of an anti-corruption purge ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He was reportedly released in January 2019.
