A senior bank executive in Bahrain has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling millions from his own institution, which is already in the midst of an international financial dispute, sources confirmed.

The defendant, a top official at the The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), has been detained for seven days while investigations continue.

It is understood prosecutors have charged him with embezzlement, breach of trust and theft, but Public Prosecution officials were unavailable for comment on Thursday.

TIBC has been placed in administration by the Central Bank of Bahrain for defaulting on some of its obligations.

The wholesale bank is majority-owned by Ahmed Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers, the Saudi family at the centre of a wider dispute with another Saudi based group of companies, Saad Group.

A US court ruled two weeks ago that TIBC was protected from claims against it while it remains in administration under Bahraini law.-TradeArabia News Service