Bahrain's public prosecutor is to begin a criminal hearing relating to some of the executives involved in the 2009 collapse of The International Banking Corporation (TIBC) and Awal Bank.
A statement from the office of Nawaf Abdulla Hamza, Bahrain's public prosecutor, posted on the website of the Bahrain News Agency, did not name the individuals involved, according to Bahraini law, but said a hearing would take place next Monday in the lower criminal court.
Defaults by TIBC and Awal in May 2009 triggered one of the biggest financial scandals to hit the Middle East, when the al Gosaibi business family of Saudi Arabia accused Maan al Sanea, the head of the Saad conglomerate, of fraud, forgery and theft amounting to US$10 billion (Dh36.73bn).
Regional and international banks were left with exposures of about $20bn in loans to Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers and to Saad, most of which remains unpaid. The affair has sparked multibillion-dollar legal actions around the world, but the Bahraini prosecutor's statement is the first sign of action over criminal allegations.
Mr al Sanea has consistently denied the accusations and any criminal involvement in the Bahraini banks. The al Gosaibis claim he was running the banks without their authorisation or knowledge, a charge he has also denied.
The prosecutor's statement said charges of money laundering and fraud would be examined at the hearing next week, and that investigations inside and outside Bahrain would continue.
The prosecutor is acting after consultation with the Bahraini central bank, which for more than a year has been examining allegations of criminal activity, as well as possible breaches of Bahrain's banking and commercial regulations.
In February 2009, the Bahraini public prosecution commissioned an inquiry by the international investigations firm Kroll to examine allegations of wrongdoing at the two banks. Three investigators - two Kroll executives and a former Bahraini accountant - were given powers as members of a special "technical committee" of the prosecutor's office. They were empowered to examine bank documents and interviewed 26 witnesses from the two banks.
fkane@thenational.ae
