Bahrain-based banking giant Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) is taking a unit of the Saad Group to court in the UK, claiming millions of dollars.

It is seeking almost $30 million (BD11.34 million) in the lawsuit filed against the Saad Trading and Contracting Company at the High Court in London, according to the UK's Financial Times.

That is a subsidiary of the Saad Group, whose chairman and chief executive officer Maan Al Sanea owns the Bahrain-based Awal Bank.

The news was accompanied by reports over the weekend that Al Sanea was being taken to court in the US in connection with an alleged $10 billion (BD3.78 billion) fraud.

Al Sanea is married to the daughter of Abdelaziz Algosaibi, one of the founders of the Algosaibi business empire.

However, the Ahmed Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company (AHAB) has accused him of fraud in a New York court, AFP reported.

It said the charges were filed on July 15 in a 'third party complaint' against Al Sanea and his Bahrain-based Awal Bank.

The case was filed in response to a suit submitted by UAE-based Mashreq Bank against AHAB for $150 million (BD56.7 million), allegedly owed on a foreign exchange deal.

ABC and Awal Bank officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported two other lawsuits had been filed against Algosaibi companies in the UK.

Commerzbank, of Germany, is reportedly seeking $144 million (BD54.432 million) plus interest from Algosaibi Investment Holdings, while British Arab Commercial Bank has reportedly filed a claim for an unspecified amount against Algosaibi Trading Services.

The Saad Group and AHAB hit the headlines earlier this year for allegedly owing an estimated $20 billion (BD7.56 billion) to regional and international banks.-TradeArabia News Service