Saudi billionnaire Alwaleed freed from detention
RIYADH, January 27, 2018
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, was released from detention on Saturday, sources said, more than two months after he was taken into custody in the kingdom's anti-graft crackdown.
The release came hours after he told Reuters in an interview at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, where he was lodged since the detention, that he expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing and be freed within days, said a CNBC report.
The terms of his release were not immediately clear.
The decision to free him, and the release of several other well-known tycoons on Friday, suggested the main part of the corruption probe was winding down.
"He has arrived home," one source in Prince Alwaleed's family told Reuters.
Earlier this week the attorney general said 90 detainees had been released after having their charges dropped, while others had traded cash, real estate and other assets for their freedom. Authorities were still holding 95 people, he said.
Saudi authorities have said they expect to raise some $100 billion for the government through settlements with businessmen accused of graft.
