Bakr bin Laden

In September 2015, a crane operated in connection with Saudi Binladin Group's work collapsed onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing more than one hundred people. The group, then chaired by Bakr bin Laden, was suspended from new contracts. After several contradictory decisions over the years, a court fined the company 20 million riyals in 2023 for negligence and safety breaches and sentenced seven individuals to imprisonment.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Person targeted by the proceedings

le Saudi Binladin Group et des employes

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

In 2022, the British press revealed that in 2013 the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund had accepted a donation of approximately one million pounds from Bakr bin Laden and his brother Shafiq, half-brothers of Osama bin Laden. The revelation sparked controversy over the reputational appropriateness of the donation, particularly given the family name and the history of 9/11.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Bakr bin Laden was arrested during the Saudi anti-corruption purge of November 2017 and remained detained for several years, with a brief temporary release in 2019. Reuters reported his release in 2021, specifying that no public charges had been brought against him.

Following falling public payments and the crisis caused by the Grand Mosque accident, Saudi Binladin Group made approximately 50,000 workers redundant in 2016. Some employees had gone more than four months without pay and were protesting almost daily; company buses were set on fire during one demonstration. Bakr bin Laden was then the central leader of the family group.

State of the evidence

Documented

Saudi Binladin Group, then headed by Bakr bin Laden, was targeted in major civil actions brought by 9/11 victims. The claimants sought, among other things, to link distributions, family structures or funds to Osama bin Laden and the financing of al-Qaeda. Claims against the group and relevant family members were ultimately dismissed.

Attribution

Direct responsibility