March 11, 2013 WASHINGTON – The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has rejected the latest efforts by the Liquidators of Maan al Sanea’s companies in the Cayman Islands to dismiss portions of Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers’ (AHAB) case.  At a hearing in November 2012, the Liquidators had requested that the court strike out AHAB’s claims for recovery of stolen funds that were transferred to Mr. Al Sanea’s Cayman Islands companies.  With the exception of one small special purpose company, the court refused to dismiss AHAB’s claims, directing that the case should move forward to trial against the primary companies.

In June 2012, AHAB won a $2.5bn interim default judgment against Mr. Al Sanea in the Cayman Islands.  At the hearing in November, the Al Sanea company Liquidators also sought permission to appeal that judgment.  The Cayman court’s order denies any right to appeal on the grounds that such an appeal would have “no prospect for success” and would raise “no point of public importance.”

The court requested that the parties agree to a schedule for discovery and trial in the proceeding, so that it will move forward in a timely manner. The next step will involve agreeing to a process for discovery and a schedule that will take the case to trial in approximately one year.

“After more than three years of procedural machinations, we look forward to moving into the trail phase of this case,” said Eric Lewis , AHAB’s chief legal coordinator. ” Maan Al Sanea’s companies in the Cayman Islands were instrumental to his multi-billion dollar global fraud, and their coffers remain filled with stolen funds that we intend to recover. ”

AHAB continues to pursue the assets of Maan Al Sanea in courts around the world.  In September 2012, a New York court ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear AHAB’s claim in respect of Mr. Al Sanea’s fraud and money laundering.

For a copy of the judgment, please contact Graham Miller at: [email protected].

See also

AHAB v Al-Sanea and others

Mar 10 2010

Thomas Beazley QC acts for defendant Maan Al-Sanea, a major Saudi businessman, in a $9 billion claim alleging, amongst other things, fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty against Mr Al Sanea and many Cayman companies, advanced by the Saudi partnership AHAB in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere. The matter is ongoing, but Tom successfully argued before the Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands for a stay of the proceedings in the Cayman Islands, pending determination of claims against Mr Al Sanea in Saudi Arabia. Tom also defended Mr Al Sanea on a contempt application. This case is of major interest in the Middle East.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.blackstonechambers.com/news/cases/ahab_v_alsanea_and.html

See also

Court’s go-ahead for funds recovery case  

From Gulf Daily News – 12 March, 2013

Court in the Cayman Islands has ordered that claims for recovery of funds should proceed in a case connected to the collapse of two Bahraini banks.

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has rejected efforts by liquidators of Maan Al Sanea’s companies to dismiss portions of a case brought by Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), according to lawyers representing AHAB.

It has reportedly refused to dismiss all of AHAB’s claims except one, stating the case should move forward against primary companies.

Last June AHAB won a $ 2.5 billion interim default judgement against Mr Al Sanea in the Cayman Islands.

Judges have denied any right to appeal that decision, saying it would have “no prospect for success” and would raise “no point of public importance”.

The court has now asked the parties to agree a schedule for discovery and proceedings.

“After more than three years of procedural machinations, we look forward to moving into the trial phase of this case,” said AHAB’s chief legal co-ordinator Eric Lewis.

The rift, which is said to have left some of the world’s biggest banks nursing billions of dollars of losses, started in 2009 when the Algosaibi financial empire – and Al Sanea’s – collapsed in the wake of the credit crisis.

AHAB denied liability for ensuing claims from creditors and blamed Mr Al Sanea – who is married to Sana Algosaibi, herself an AHAB partner – of setting up a giant scam to defraud them and siphoning off billions of dollars for his own benefit.

However, Mr Al Sanea has denied the accusations.

A criminal trial is still underway in Bahrain in connection with the collapse of the now-defunct Awal Bank and The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), in which 13 executives have been charged. Legal action to recover the money is also underway in the US.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?m=economics&id=638239&lim=&lang=en&tblpost=2013_03

See also:

AHAB wins $2.5bn case again Al Sanea

Published Friday, June 15, 2012, Emirites 247

Cayman Islands court issues interim award in Algosaibi fraud case and orders Maan Al Sanea to pay $2.5 billion

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands issued a ruling in favour of Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB) requiring Maan Al Sanea to pay AHAB $2.5 billion, the amount requested by AHAB as an interim payment, PRNewswire said.

In a 35-page ruling the Chief Justice found that AHAB would be entitled to recover at least $2.5 billion.

The Court’s award was based on what it termed “compelling” evidence of “a pattern of massive payments to [Al Sanea’s] Saad Group (at times running at an average of well over $1 million per day).”

The Court found these payments, which were directed by Al-Sanea, to be “inexplicable having regard to the nature of AHAB’s business” and declared that AHAB’s allegations that Al-Sanea misappropriated billions of dollars were “now deemed proven against Al Sanea.”

The ruling is a significant development in AHAB’s recovery efforts against Maan Al Sanea, who is also currently being charged with financial crimes in Bahrain in relation to his massive fraud and is under investigation in Switzerland and the United States.

The ruling follows a default judgment entered against Al Sanea in November 2011. Under Cayman Islands procedure, the holder of default judgment may apply for an enforceable interim order for “a reasonable proportion of the damages which in the opinion of the Court are likely to be recovered.”

The ruling was based on the court’s detailed review of the affidavit evidence of Simon Charlton, the Deloitte partner who led the forensic investigation. The ruling found that the specific forensic evidence of payments made from AHAB to Al Sanea and companies under his control “remains unchallenged.”

AHAB told the Court that it will undertake final quantification of their losses at the end of the case against Al Sanea and other parties on their claim, PRNewswire said.

Although Al Sanea has repeatedly issued public statements denying AHAB’s charges, he declined to submit any defense to AHAB’s claims in the Cayman Court. Instead, he unsuccessfully disputed the Cayman court’s jurisdiction, losing in both the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal and Her Majesty’s Privy Council in London, the final appellate court.

“Maan Al Sanea has repeatedly said he is waiting for his day in court to defend the charges against him. Clearly, he has not and cannot,” said Eric Lewis, AHAB’s chief legal coordinator.

“AHAB’s forensic team provided compelling affidavit evidence of misappropriation. Al Sanea cannot defend the fraud charges on the merits and the court has acted accordingly. AHAB has requested at this juncture an order for $2.5 billion to enable early action to be taken, but expects a significantly larger final award when this case is ultimately tried.”

For more on this story go to:

http://www.emirates247.com/crime/world/ahab-wins-2-5bn-case-again-al-sanea-2012-06-15-1.463162

From Wikipedia:

Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi & Brothers (A. H. Al Gosaibi & Bros. or AHAB or Al Gosaibi Group), a large diversified family owned Saudi business group, was formed by Hamad Ahmad Al Gosaibi in the late 1940s as a trading company offering money exchange services in the growing coastal town of Al Khobar. His three sons, Ahmad, Abdul Aziz and Sulaiman (all three are deceased), expanded the operation to include real estate, among the world’s most lucrative Pepsi Cola bottling franchises, oilfield services for oil giant Aramco, and investments in banking, insurance, shipping, stevedoring, trading, finance, and manufacturing, reorganizing it into a holding company and, in the process, built it into among the most respected business houses in the Middle East.[citation needed]

The Al Gosaibi Group’s Board of Directors consist of Yousef Ahmad Al Gosaibi (Chairman), Abdul Mohsin Ahmad Al Gosaibi, Saud Abdul Aziz Al Gosaibi (Managing Director), Walid Khalid Ahmad Al Gosaibi, Dawood Sulaiman Al Gosaibi and the family’s long time Palestinian associate and Group Senior Vice President, Mohammed Salem Hindi.

AHAB is a general partnership, owned by the heirs of the three founding Al Gosaibi brothers. The largest individual shareholder is Dawood Sulaiman Al Gosaibi whose proxy also represents the equity held by his mother and two sisters. Together they own one third of AHAB’s shareholding value, inherited in February 2009 by the death of their father, Sulaiman the youngest of the three founding brothers. The other two founders, Ahmad and Abdulaziz, each owners of one third of AHAB, had died earlier, and their equity had been transferred to Ahmad’s six children and their heirs and Abdul Aziz’s wife and his seven children.

AHAB investments include vast real estate holdings, the National Bottling Company (KSA),which bottles Pepsico beverages in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the Al Gosaibi Hotel, and, shipping, trading and manufacturing ventures. The Al Gosaibi Group have corporate partnerships with Jotun, Crown Holdings, Olayan Holdings, British Petroleum, in manufacturing operations throughout the Middle East. Their trading activities, which includes a major parts supplier to oil giant, Saudi Aramco, represent companies as diverse as Sumitomo of Japan, Jeumont of France, Mirrlees Blackstone of the United Kingdom, and the Canadian based ShawCor.