US embassy cable - 04RIYADH5103

S E C R E T RIYADH 005103 
 
NOFORN 
 
EB/ESC/TFS FOR EGOFF 
TREASURY FOR JZARATE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2014 
TAGS: ETTC, EFIN, PTER, PREL, SA 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCING: AL-RAJHI BANK 
 
Classified By: ECON CONS D. H. RUNDELL, REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (S) SUMMARY: At the end of the meeting between Treasury 
A/S Zarate and Ali Al-Gaith, Director of Banking Inspection, 
Insurance and Financial Leasing at the Saudi Arabian Monetary 
Agency (SAMA) on September 15, Al-Gaith discussed Al-Rajhi 
Bank and the recent information forwarded to the SAG via July 
5 letters from the Ambassador. Al-Gaith argued against 
Al-Rajhi being involved in terrorism. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (S) Al-Gaith took exception to the details regarding 
suspect accounts and said that he had seen no hard evidence 
linking Al-Rajhi or individuals who have accounts or work at 
the bank with Al-Qaida or terrorism. He noted that the 
investigation into Al-Rajhi had started in 1989. The suspect 
activity is an "after-the-fact" revelation for Al-Gaith, that 
is after terrorists are identified. For him, no complicity 
on the bank's part has been proven. 
 
3. (S) In August, 2003, Al-Rajhi had a full scope 
examination done by Ernst & Young. The report did not 
indicate any wrong doings. A/S Zarate requested a copy of 
the report. Al-Gaith said he would share the findings of the 
examination. 
 
4. (S) Relying on news reports regarding the Al-Rajhi 
family is not a basis, according to Al-Gaith, for making 
claims concerning the bank. Al-Gaith defended the banks past 
practices such as freezing Usama bin Laden's accounts in 1994. 
 
5. (S) Zarate noted that the United States Government (USG) 
has real concerns about the financial activities facilitated 
by Al-Rajhi and that these concerns were not an indictment 
against the SAG. Rather, the issue is of common concern and 
needs to be addressed. The USG and SAG need to be assured 
that Al-Rajhi is doing everything possible regarding 
compliance and cooperation. Particular accounts of concern 
need to be investigated and the bank's compliance structure 
needs to be reviewed. Al-Gaith said that information on 
suspect accounts would be shared. 
 
6. (S) Al-Gaith pointed out that the MOI information 
originated with SAMA. He said that SAMA would look at 
specific accounts if the USG provided information. Zarate 
said he would follow up on the offer to provide specific 
accounts. 
 
7. (S) COMMENT: Al-Gaith did not appear to support a close 
relationship with the United States Government (USG) 
throughout the meeting (reftel). At the beginning of the 
conversation, Al-Gaith said that he was "fed up" with the 
USG's allegations and that none of them were substantiated. 
 
END COMMENT. 
 
OBERWETTER