Arab world's richest person denies rape allegations

Alwaleed and wife

The wife of the Arab world's richest person Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal denied Saturday claims her husband raped a model on a yacht in Spain in 2008, insisting she was with him in France when the alleged crime took place. "I was with my husband outside of Spain the day these allegations took place in Ibiza," Amira al-Taweel was quoted as saying by the prince's chief of staff, Kholud al-Dussari.

"Quite simply we were not there. We were together in the French city of Cannes. I was with him all the time, and we were with at least 30 people," she said, according to AFP. "Hundreds of witnesses can confirm that we were in Cannes, just as there are dozens of proofs that we were not in Ibiza in 2008."

A Spanish court has reopened a probe into the allegations.

In a statement, Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Co. denied the allegations and said he only heard of them on Tuesday. "These allegations are completely and utterly false. The alleged encounter simply never happened. Indeed, the events could not have happened," said the statement published on the company's website.