A London Court has today rejected an effort by a liquidator to win US$ 3.65 billion from Saudi business magnate and philanthropist, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber. The legal action was funded by a mysterious, unknown entity and was based on evidence from a disgraced former employee. The case was presided over by Mrs Justice Joanna Smith DBE.
A spokesman for Sheikh Mohamed, explained “The claim involved Amjad Salfiti who worked as an in-house lawyer for the Sheikh’s businesses. Sheikh Mohamed gave Mr Salfiti responsibility for managing various legal matters until 2018 when he was dismissed for misconduct. Mr Salfiti was previously found (by another court) to be a dishonest solicitor, having given false evidence”.
Of the key witness, Mr Amjad Salfiti, Mrs Justice Smith said, “I found Mr Salfiti to be a wholly unreliable witness”. She went on, he “gave evasive and obviously dishonest answers and questions posed to him”.
The spokesman added: “Sheikh Mohamed is pleased that the Court has dismissed the claim for US$ 3.65 billion and is generally pleased with the outcome, which he considers to be a convincing victory”.
“We remain convinced that this case was brought opportunistically and was little more than an attempt to gain a stake in the MBI Group without paying for it”. This has been a long and tortuous case, funded over 6 years – and this is on the record – by an unnamed third-party.
The case has been a distraction and Sheikh Mohamed is pleased now to be able to focus once again on his business and philanthropic endeavours.
The MBI Group is a conglomerate founded by Sheikh Mohamed in the early 1980s. The Group owns a string of luxurious golf resorts in Portugal, hotels in other European countries, and a food processing company in the Middle East, amongst other assets.
Sheikh Mohamed is the sole benefactor of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which has supported various good causes for 25 years. He has supported the Middle East Institute at SOAS for over 20 years, as well education and health improvement programs in Middle East and Europe. Over 4,000 young people have benefitted from educational opportunities provided by the Sheikh’s foundation. Considerably ahead of his time, Sheikh Mohamed funded the Olive Tree Project which sought to foster conflict resolution and reconciliation in the Middle East.
