Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at the center of British media reports he received a huge commission for a multi-billion-dollar arms deal, insisted on Tuesday all the funds went to the Saudi government.
"Last week the Guardian newspaper published stories alleging that secret payments totalling 1 billion British pound had been paid to my personal account at Riggs Bank in Washington DC. Readers were encouraged to believe that the monies in question came from funds belonging to BAE and that the payments represented corrupt inducements to my personal benefit while I was serving as Ambassador of my country to the USA," he said in a statement published on SPA.
The British newspaper has alleged payments totalling more than 2 billion dollars were paid to Prince Bandar. Britain's defenSe giant BAE is alleged to have set up a secret slush fund for members of the Saudi royal family to secure continued business, dating back to the massive Al-Yamamah arms deal signed in 1985.
"The Guardian allegations as stated above are not only untrue but are grotesque in their absurdity because the funds mentioned were Saudi Government money from start to finish. Thus, the account in the United Sates was as a Saudi Government account and not my personal account."
"Although these transactions were confidential between all parties involved, it cannot be thought that with such substantial and regular payments passing through the banking systems of the United Kingdom and the United States, they could be kept "secret" or be concealed from the Government concerned or their regulatory authorities. Further, it can be stated categorically that the BAE was not party to any of these accounts."
