It began in May last year but shows no sign of reaching any imminent conclusion. A resolution often appears further away than ever.
I refer, of course, to one of the Middle East's longest-running and most convoluted business disputes, the confrontation between the al Gosaibi family of Saudi Arabia and their erstwhile favourite son-in-law, Maan al Sanea.
It is becoming a saga worthy of a Tolstoyan treatment, with sub-plots and minor characters appearing briefly, flickering for a few weeks and then falling back within the main drama. It certainly requires one of those lists of dramatis personae the Russian novelist went in for, with a cast running into the hundreds. War and Peace, except there is no sign of peace on the horizon.
This week came the latest twist in the saga, with a court in the Cayman Islands ruling that it was, after all, the correct jurisdiction for the case against Mr al Sanea to be heard.
It illustrates the complexity of the affair, as well as its international nature, that a British judge sitting in a Cayman court should be ruling on a Saudi Arabian business dispute. But Sir John Chadwick, who delivered the ruling that effectively reversed the decision of another Cayman court in July, is no dilettante when it comes to Middle East business matters: he is also a judge on the circuit of the Dubai International Financial Centre courts.
His ruling throws the case back to where it was in the summer, with a full-blown trial now likely in the Cayman Islands. This is undoubtedly a blow to Mr al Sanea: he had hoped to have everything heard in Saudi Arabia.
A committee of senior members of the Saudi establishment, due to report personally to King Abdullah, has been considering the case for more than a year but to no apparent effect. The silence from the Saudi committee has been significant and frustrating for the banking creditors sitting on perhaps US$20 billion (Dh73.45bn) of loans to the two parties.
Particularly telling was the judge's reasoning behind his decision. He said "there was no reason to expect the Saudi committee would reach a conclusion" on the competing claims between the al Gosaibi family and Mr al Sanea. "Nor was it possible to be confident that proceedings commenced in Saudi courts would lead to a decision determinative of [Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, the family's firm] claims against Mr al Sanea within any measurable period, if at all," he added.
In layman's terms, he was telling the Saudis: "We've given you your chance but we're fed up waiting for you, so we're going to tackle it ourselves."
Word filters out of Riyadh, where the committee sits, only occasionally, and each time it simply adds to the sense of inertia and indecision. The last time I met one of the players directly involved (most of the protagonists on both sides are prevented from travelling outside the kingdom) was in September.
I was told then that even King Abdullah's patience was wearing thin and he had appointed a special "task force" to cut through the interminable deliberations of the committee, which is racked with conflicting loyalties to the protagonists. A final report had been written and was sitting on the royal desk awaiting action, it was said. A decision was due any day.
Since then, nothing, although the king's need for medical treatment outside the country may have slowed things up. Perhaps that, too, was a factor in Mr Chadwick's ruling.
With the apparent lack of progress in Riyadh, the spotlight has shifted outside Saudi Arabia and back on to Bahrain, where the whole thing began. It should be remembered that the scandal was triggered by the collapse of two Bahraini banks, The International Banking Corporation and Awal Bank, connected with the two sides, back in spring last year.
Investigators hired by the Bahraini authorities have examined the events leading to those collapses. The UK accounting firm Ernst & Young and a small British corporate investigator, Hibis, produced reports on the two banks. But the authorities felt they needed another report before they could take any action and hired Kroll, the US investigations firm, to get to the bottom of it.
Kroll's preliminary report is, apparently, completed and being studied by Bahrain's banking and prosecution authorities.
Finally, there is the US dimension to the affair. The al Gosaibis are being advised by a team of US lawyers and lobbyists who have been aggressive in pushing the US authorities to get involved, with some success. Urged on by Peter King, a member of the House of Representatives, the matter has been considered by a congressional committee concerned about the possibility of money laundering implications of the billions of dollars flowing from Saudi Arabia to US bank accounts, with no "red flags" being raised.
After the Republicans' successes in the recent mid-term elections, Mr King is set to become the chairman of the powerful homeland security committee in Washington. He will no doubt use his new position to push the al Gosaibi case even more forcefully in the US.
There are many chapters still to be written in this Saudi saga.
fkane@thenational.ae
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadeera%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERabih%20El%20Chaar%20and%20Reem%20Khattar%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECleanTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHope%20Ventures%2C%20Rasameel%20Investments%20and%20support%20from%20accelerator%20programmes%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Results
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m; Winner: Dhafra, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Al Ajayib, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
4pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Ashtr, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Majed Al Jahouri
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Falcon Claws, Szczepan Mazur, Doug Watson
5pm: Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Al Mufham SB, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Badar Al Hajri
5.30pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m; Winner: Asraa Min Al Talqa, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
More from Armen Sarkissian
Pakistanis%20at%20the%20ILT20%20
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A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
On racial profiling at airports
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets