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9 months ago
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The CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCA) Amr Al-Madani has been arrested in relation to corruption allegations.
The country’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) put out a statement on Sunday saying the exec had been arrested for his involvement in crimes of abuse of office power and money laundering.
The Nazaha statement said Al-Madani was alleged to have obtained contracts “in an irregular manner” through a relative to the value of $55M for the National Talent Company, a company in which he holds a stake, from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy prior to his arrival at AlUla.
Nazaha said Al-Madani continued to hold a stake in the company after taking up his AlUla post, recommending it for RCU contracts worth some $300,000, profits from which were channelled back to him via a family member working at the company.
Situated in northwest Saudi Arabia, the heritage region of AlUla is currently being developed as a major creative and tourist centre under the country’s 2030 Vision strategy aimed at moving the economy away from a reliance on oil.
The RCU was established in 2017 to oversee this work under the banner of Film AlUla.
Deadline has contacted the Royal Commission for AlUla for comment.
