Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (Ahab) Co. has won a default judgment against Maan Al-Sanea, founder of Saad Group, in a $9.2 billion claim for damages in a Cayman Islands court, declaring a “major victory” in the latest installment of the two-year legal battle. Al-Sanea failed to file a defense in the case in which he was accused of taking out billions of dollars in fraudulent loans in Algosaibi's name when he was working for the company, according to a Nov. 7 default judgment from the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Damages will be determined later, it said. “Al-Sanea has repeatedly said he is waiting for his day in court to defend the charges against him,” Eric Lewis, a legal coordinator for Algosaibi, said in the statement after the judgment was issued. “Clearly, he cannot defend the fraud charges on the merits and the court has acted accordingly.” The case is part of a global dispute between the companies after they defaulted in 2009 on a total of about $15.7 billion in loans from more than 100 banks. Tim Robertson, Saad Group's London-based spokesman, declined to comment. Al-Sanea has repeatedly denied the allegations and said Algosaibi knew of the loans he took out. Al-Sanea also faces a fraud lawsuit in New York and investigations in Bahrain and Switzerland. Tim Robertson, Saad Group's London-based spokesman, declined to comment. Al-Sanea has repeatedly denied the allegations and said Algosaibi knew of the loans he took out. The Cayman Islands court in September dismissed a $9.2 billion asset freeze against Al-Sanea after Algosaibi admitted failing to disclose evidence from a related case filed by HSBC Holdings Plc and other banks in London. Algosaibi admitted liability in that case.
