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NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc won thedismissal on Monday of a Saudi real estate company's $10 billionlawsuit alleging the bank ceased pursuing lease payments duefrom the Saudi government on military complexes in order toobtain a banking license.
New York Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos ruled from thebench in dismissing the 2014 lawsuit by the company, JadawelInternational, a unit of London-based MBI International HoldingsInc, a Barclays spokesman said.
The lawsuit sought $10 billion in damages for what Jadawelclaimed was a fraudulent scheme Barclays hatched to secure therare Saudi banking license, selling out Jadawel in the process.
Barclays contended Jadawel's claims were time-barred andthat the lawsuit did not establish a fiduciary relationshipbetween Jadawel and the bank.
"We are pleased with the court's ruling," Andrew Smith, aBarclays spokesman, said.
A lawyer for Jadawel did not respond to requests forcomment.
MBI, founded by Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, built twocompounds and leased them to the Saudi government in 1999 tohouse U.S. defense contractors, the lawsuit said. The paymentsshould have totaled over $2 billion through 2017, it said.
When Jadawel sought to refinance in 2001, Barclays helpedassemble a group of lenders, the lawsuit said.
In 2002, the government partially defaulted and Barclaysassumed responsibility to collect, it said. As a result,Barclays filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages from the Saudigovernment.
Barclays later caused the lawsuit to be withdrawn, Jadawel'slawsuit said, and sought a bank license from the Saudi CapitalMarkets Authority, which was considering granting one to aWestern financial institution for the first time in decades.
Jadawel accused the bank of dropping the lawsuit andcompromising the claims for its own benefit, causing it to bedeprived hundreds of millions of dollars in lease payments andsell the compounds at a "substantial loss."
The bank also was reported to have bribed a Saudi prince andgovernment official to help obtain the license, the lawsuitsaid.
In 2012, Reuters reported that the U.S. government wasinvestigating whether Barclays paid bribes to win a bankinglicense in Saudi Arabia. Barclays has denied doing so.
The case is MBI International Holdings v Barclays Bank Plc,New York State Supreme Court, No. 653307/2014. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by LeslieAdler)
