Asa Fitch/The National

Riyadh, Jul 18: Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers, the indebted Saudi conglomerate, has filed suit in New York against the billionaire chairman and founder of another struggling Saudi conglomerate, claiming US$10 billion (Dh36.87bn) in fraud, according to a newspaper report.

The suit was filed by AHAB against Maan al Sanea, the head of the Saad Group, the Financial Times said yesterday.

According to the London-based newspaper, the suit said Mr al Sanea had “misappropriated approximately $10bn as a result of his frauds”, which allegedly involved forged documents used to obtain loans, the proceeds from which were allegedly diverted into Mr al Sanea’s hands. It also said Mr al Sanea held an executive position in AHAB, where the firm announced the discovery of “substantial financial irregularities” last month.

These allegations appear to describe much closer financial intermingling between Saad and Al Gosaibi than had previously been reported. Despite family connections – Mr Sanea is married to the daughter of one of the AHAB founders – Saad has said in the past that it has only an “arm’s length” commercial relationship with Al Gosaibi.

“We have not seen or been served with this claim, although it appears from press reports to be a repetition of claims previously presented extensively to the press and elsewhere and which are baseless,” a London-based spokesman for Saad told the Financial Times. “If we are served with such a claim, we will respond to it vigourously through specialist counsel, confident in both the true facts and the judicial process.”