A British court has ordered a division of Saudi-based Saad Group, to pay a fine of $33.1 million to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) for defaulting on a currency-exchange deal, said a report.

Saad Group, the Saudi conglomerate owned by Maan al Sanea, has been facing dozens of suits from banks after the financila group and another large Saudi business, Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, began to default last summer.

Courts in London, New York, the Cayman Islands, Bahrain and the UAE are hearing claims against them.

The judgment hands ADCB one of the first victories in a complex tangle of court cases that began when trouble cropped up last summer at Saad and another large Saudi business, Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, said the National in its report.

Judge Michael Brindle ruled in London’s High Court that Saad Trading, Contracting and Financial Services defaulted on a currency-swap transaction when its credit ratings were withdrawn in June last year, it added.

Al Gosaibi alleged last July that its problems stemmed from a $10 billion fraud committed against it by Al Sanea when he was in charge of Al Gosaibi’s remittances arm. However, Al Sanea, one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent businessmen, has denied these allegations.