New York Court Rules in Favor of AHAB on U.S. Discovery Issue

NEW YORK, May 21, 2011 -

- Bank of America, Citibank, Standard Chartered, and HSBC Ordered to Hand
Over Key Records

The Hon. Jed Rakoff of The United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York ruled today that Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB)
has the right to discovery documents related to foreign proceedings against
Bank of America, Citibank, Standard Chartered, and HSBC. AHAB has been
fighting with the banks for months for documents that could trace how up to
$1 trillion flowed through US banks as part of one of the largest money
laundering schemes in history, as well as information regarding control of
those accounts by Maan Al Sanea, a Saudi who has been charged with defrauding
banking regulators in Bahrain and is subject to a worldwide freezing order.

All four banks previously submitted wholesale objections to AHAB's 1782
petition, arguing that AHAB might use the records to sue the banks for their
role in the money-laundering scheme.

"To date, these banks have refused to provide AHAB with essential records
that will show up to $1 trillion of 'dirty' money moving in and out of all
four banks. These accounts, which were controlled by Maan Al Sanea and his
deputies and used to facilitate his global Ponzi scheme, will provide
critical evidence of how the fraud was perpetrated, who was involved and
where some of the misappropriated money may have gone," said Eric Lewis,
AHAB's chief legal advisor and partner of Baach, Robinson & Lewis.

Section 1782 of Title 28 of the United State Code is a federal statue
allowing parties in a foreign legal proceeding to obtain information critical
to litigation outside U.S. jurisdiction.

In his judgment, Judge Rakoff ruled, "Since the Court is satisfied that
the documents AHAB is seeking are relevant to the foreign proceedings and
'for use' in the foreign proceedings, the fact that AHAB may also be able to
use the discovery in future litigation against [the banks] is immaterial."

In September 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations heard testimony outlining an
estimated $1 trillion that Maan Al Sanea directed through the New York
financial system, which was instrumental to the mechanics of Al Sanea's money
laundering operation. Rep. Peter King of New York has also requested that
Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice investigate Al
Sanea's use of the U.S. financial system as it relates to this case.

In March 2011, Bahrain initiated criminal proceedings against Maan Al
Sanea and 14 of his former employees from Awal Bank and The International
Banking Corporation (TIBC). AHAB has long since maintained that Awal Bank and
TIBC were fraudulently established for the primary purpose of defrauding the
Al Gosaibi family and financial institutions around the world.

Graham Miller, +1-571-438-2276, graham at sphereconsulting.com