Tariq Al-Homayd • Asharq Al-Awsat

LONDON, 25 August 2003 — The Saudi American Bank (SAMBA) has closed the account of Saudi businessman Khaled ibn Salim Bin Mahfooz without giving him notice and totally without his knowledge.

Bin Mahfooz told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, that he had received a letter from SAMBA in mid-July, attached with a check drafted in his name to the value of his entire deposit in the bank.

Bin Mahfooz immediately deposited the money in another bank, he told the newspaper. When Bin Mahfooz received the letter, he went to SAMBA to clarify the matter. He said that two of the staff members at the bank informed him that the decision to close his account was made in New York, without specifying which body had given the orders.

The staff who informed him of this said that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is aware of the account’s closure.

Bin Mahfooz, the former owner of the National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia, was “amazed” that SAMA had not intervened in the matter, since, he said, it is the government institution responsible for taking such decisions. The US Treasury has blacklisted several Saudi businessmen on a secret list which is being discussed by the White House and the Congress.

The White House says that revealing the list would harm its national interests. The names have been included on the list because the United States government believes the individuals are involved in charity work or donations that could be related to terrorist activity.