Saudi Arabia Struck Gold With Corruption Crackdown

Around midnight on Jan. 21, the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh hardly looks like the holding pen for some of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted. Since November, some of the kingdom’s richest princes, cabinet officials, and businessmen have been detained in the palatial five-star hotel as part of a sweeping anticorruption purge. There are no armed guards visible; only one police car is seen outside the compound. In the well-lit lobby, with Arabic music playing over speakers, government staffers are scattered around cafe tables. There’s a buffet, but nobody is eating.

On a couch near the reception desk, Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb, the Saudi attorney general, does a head count of detainees. So far, about 90 have been released, having reached settlement deals with the government. Fewer than 100 remain, including five who are weighing proposed deals. Those who don’t reach an agreement will be referred to prosecutors. “The royal order was clear,” Al Mojeb says. “Those who express remorse and agree to settle will have any criminal proceedings against them dropped.”