A Foreign Office official floated the idea of giving an honour to a businessman who was later alleged to have helped facilitate millions of pounds of bribes to a Saudi prince and his high-ranking associates.
Salah Fustok was alleged by UK anti-corruption prosecutors to have been a middleman for nearly £10m of payments to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and other Saudi officials as “an inducement or reward” for the awarding of a contract by the Saudi Arabian national guard.
The Fustok family’s close relationship to the Saudi royal family was outlined in court documents as part of a long-running British criminal prosecution. It was in this case that the court heard allegations Fustok, 85, and other members of his family had been considered by British officials to be important middlemen in commercial deals involving the Saudi royal family stretching back to the 1960s.
A document shown in court detailed how a senior diplomat in 2012 suggested that the British government could give Fustok an honour to improve its relationship with him. Fustok, who has interests in Britain including a Cambridgeshire stud farm, felt “sour” having been “dumped” as an adviser to BAE, Britain’s biggest arms company, according to the diplomat.
In its later prosecution of a British company and two individuals, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) alleged that a Saudi company controlled by the Fustok family, Arab Builders for Telecommunications and Security Services (ABTSS), had been a conduit for bribes to Miteb and others in a large defence contract.
Three years ago the British company GPT Special Project Management pleaded guilty to involvement in making corrupt payments between 2008 and 2010 to Miteb through ABTSS and other intermediaries. GPT paid penalties of £30m.
Last Wednesday two men were cleared by a jury of wrongdoing over their role in the payments, including those made via ABTSS, after arguing they had taken place with the approval of the British and Saudi governments.
In that case, documents surfaced revealing the British government’s desire in 2012 to placate Fustok.
In October of that year, Edwin Samuel, a senior British diplomat in Riyadh working on defence and security issues, emailed the British ambassador, Sir John Jenkins, before a lunch with four British officials at Fustok’s house.
Samuel wrote: “Salah’s in attendance on Miteb whenever he is in Riyadh. It is a useful back channel and pro-UK.”
A month later Samuel emailed the ambassador saying the relationship with Salah Fustok “needs managing” after he had been dropped as an adviser for BAE. “I have two things in mind which may help,” wrote Samuel. “A return match lunch hosted by you and possible honours nomination for Salah.”
Asked why Fustok was suggested for an honour, the Foreign Office said: “We do not comment on individual honours-related matters. It’s a matter of public record that Salah Fustok does not have a UK honour.”
Fustok has been the owner of the Deerfield stud farm near Newmarket in Cambridgeshire since 1990. The crowning moment for the farm was the 2005 Derby when a colt named Motivator that had been bred there won the prestigious race with a breathtaking burst of speed.
Fustok was asked to attend an interview by the SFO as part of its investigation into the payment of bribes to Miteb, but declined, the court heard.
In 2017, Miteb was one of the highest-profile Saudis detained in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “anti-corruption” purge. He was later released after reportedly agreeing to a $1bn settlement, although it is not known precisely of what he was accused. It has been suggested by critics of the crown prince that the purge was a crude means to eliminate political rivals.
In the case later brought by the SFO, prosecutors also alleged Fustok and members of his family had received payments as part of their role in the corruption.
The payments were said to have been made in regular instalments between 2007 and 2010 to Salah, his son Rami and his nephew Majid, as well as other leading Saudis including Miteb. According to the SFO, Salah received £429,000, Rami £164,000 and Majid £156,000 in those four years.
Neither Salah, Rami nor Majid were arrested or charged in connection with the investigation. ABTSS was also not charged.
Salah declined to comment. Rami, Majid and ABTSS did not respond when approached.
