Mohammed Al Amoudi

In 2018, Ethiopia suspended the licence of the Lega Dembi gold mine, operated by MIDROC, a group linked to Al Amoudi, following demonstrations by residents claiming that mining activities had caused serious environmental and health damage. Subsequent submissions to UN mechanisms continued to document concerns about exposure to toxic substances.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Preem, a Swedish refiner controlled by Mohammed Al Amoudi, planned an approximately 1.65-billion-dollar expansion of its Lysekil refinery. Environmental organisations maintained that it could increase CO2 emissions by approximately one million tonnes per year, making the facility one of the country's largest sources of emissions. Greenpeace blocked an oil tanker in September 2020. Preem ultimately abandoned the project.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Greenpeace referred Preem's advertising campaigns to the Swedish Consumer Ombudsman, arguing that promotional content portrayed the Al Amoudi-controlled company as misleadingly environmentally friendly while it was planning to expand its Lysekil refinery. The controversy concerned the boundary between editorial information, native advertising and greenwashing.

Attribution

Direct responsibility

In November 2018, the Casablanca Commercial Court decided to extend Samir's judicial liquidation to the personal assets of Mohammed Al Amoudi and several former directors. The decision arose from proceedings concerning directors' responsibility for managing the refinery. The Commercial Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the extension.

State of the evidence

Confirmed

Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi was detained for more than fourteen months during the broad Saudi anti-corruption campaign launched in 2017, then released in January 2019. Reuters reported that, according to his family office, his detention had not resulted in any change of ownership of his companies.

In 2018, Addis Ababa authorities revoked land leases held by investors including companies linked to Mohammed Al Amoudi. Authorities accused certain beneficiaries of failing to develop the land as agreed, while local officials said that some sites had been fenced off for years without creating the promised jobs.

State of the evidence

Documented

Saudi Star, an agricultural company controlled by Al Amoudi, developed extensive landholdings in Gambella, Ethiopia. The project became associated with the wider controversy over large land leases, community displacement and villagisation policies; human rights organisations condemned abuses in the region.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Direct responsibility