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Pinheiros Altos, in the Algarve, is one of the sheikh’s ventures
Once one of the richest men in the world, Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber is now the target of investigations in several countries, including Portugal.
The Saudi tycoon Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaberwho was once considered one of the richest men in the world, is being investigated by the Judiciary Police. According to the report, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several criminal complaints against the businessman, including suspicions of fraud, falsification of documents, qualified disobedience and money laundering.
Born in 1959, in Jeddah, Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber built over decades a vast business empire in the hotel, real estate, financial and oil and gas sectors, with a presence in the Middle East and Europe. Calling himself sheikh, Al Jaber appeared, in the middle of the last decade, on the Forbes magazine lists, with a fortune valued at around seven billion dollars.
In Portugal, he was one of the first foreign investors to invest in luxury tourism, having arrived in the Algarve in 1987. He became the owner of the Pinheiros Altos development, in Quinta do Lago, where he developed a residential complex and a golf course. Its media projection reached its peak in 2002, with the so-called “Party of the Century”, organized to announce the Royal Algarve project, an ultra-luxury resort valued at around 200 million euros, which never came to fruition.
In 2008, it returned to the headlines with the purchase of the five-star hotels Penina and Dona Filipa, as well as the San Lorenzo golf course, in an investment of approximately 175 million euros. However, from then on, the JJW Hotels & Resorts conglomerate entered into a spiral of financial difficultiesmarked by defaults, disputes with banks, debt restructuring and unpaid wages.
Al Jaber’s international reputation has also been affected by controversies, such as Human Rights Watch’s 2002 refusal to accept a donation from his foundation, citing concerns about labor practices associated with his companies.
In recent months, the situation has worsened significantly. In November, the UK Supreme Court ruled Al Jaber to pay around 67 million euros to the liquidators of the company MBI International & Partners, considering that the businessman promoted illicit transfers of assets after the company’s liquidation. For the first time, the debt became personal, and a suspended arrest order was issued, which could be activated if he entered British territory.
In Austria, it lost control of the Gran Hotel Wien, sold in the process of insolvency for 90 million euros. Al Jaber lost control of his national companies, now managed by administrators appointed by the secured creditor, the British management company Arrow.
Summoned to make statements to the Portuguese authorities, the sheikh faces the risk of arrest if he again misses the summons.
