Published on November 18, 2024 at 3:27 p.m. / Modified on November 18, 2024 at 4:58 p.m.
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False start for a financial trial between a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia and the director of his family office.
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The defendant, too poorly to appear before his judges, obtains a postponement until next year.
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The defense also asks that the prince be summoned so that they can ask him questions.
The more considerable the sums at stake, the more complicated the hearings become. The one held this Monday before the Geneva Criminal Court is no exception. At the opening of the debates, the protagonists of the story are conspicuous by their absence. The plaintiff, Prince Fahad Al Saud, 76, a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia, who had been a fighter pilot before working in the Ministry of Defense, then serving in the high echelons of the civil aviation, was excused due to health problems. As for the defendant, 67 years old, accused of having filled his pockets while he directed the structure managing the assets of His Highness from the banks of Lake Geneva, he was also called pale, medical certificates on file. support. This will not prevent a first round where the lawyers battle it out and give a foretaste of what’s to come.
As we will quickly understand, the versions diverge diametrically in this matter. The defendant, who returned to live in his native Egypt since his property was sequestered, claims to have taken and spent all this money with the prince’s agreement. “Nothing was done without the knowledge of the complainant and everything was agreed orally,” already insists the defense, provided by Mes Olivier Cramer and Nicola Meier. In the name of Fahad Al Saud, Christophe Emonet and Nicolas Herren, on the contrary, depict a real thieves having put in place a sophisticated system to hide his embezzlement. “He tampered with the accounting, he used hieroglyphics and he fired employees who asked too many questions. He’s a comedian and his whole life is a lie.”
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