Riyadh: Saudi Arabian banks have frozen more than 1,200 accounts belonging to individuals and companies in the kingdom as part of the government’s anti-corruption purge, bankers and lawyers said yesterday. They added that the number was continuing to rise almost hourly.
Saudi Arabia’s central bank sought to reassure the business community that the investigation would not hurt the economy, saying companies and banks could operate as normal.
At the request of the attorney general, the central bank is freezing personal bank accounts of suspects pending court rulings on their cases, but it is not suspending operations of their companies, the bank said in a statement.
“In other words, corporate businesses remain unaffected. It is business as usual for both banks and corporates,” the central bank said.
US President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind the crackdown, claiming that its targets have been “milking” the kingdom for years.
“I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing,” the US President posted on Twitter. “Some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years!”