Plea for Money Preceded Saudi Crackdown on Elites - WSJ
▻https://www.wsj.com/articles/plea-for-money-preceded-saudi-crackdown-on-elites-1517186010
A sweeping, self-styled anticorruption campaign that has upended Saudi Arabian politics and business started with a request from the country’s king and new crown prince to prominent citizens: Make patriotic contributions to help shore up government finances.
When the plea for cash was largely rebuffed, according to people familiar with the matter, the prince, Mohammed bin Salman, decided on sterner steps. Members of the country’s elite were lured to the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel, arrested, accused of bribery and other crimes and pressed to make what the government has termed settlement payments.
