Alamy/Jeff Gilbert via Reuters Connect
Allegations of money laundering
Man Group and EFG among accused
They have denied all the claims
Kuwait’s public pension fund has accused asset manager Man Group, Swiss bank EFG and others of laundering bribes paid to its late director as a $1 billion trial begins at London’s High Court.
The Public Institution for Social Security, which operates Kuwait’s social security and pension scheme, is also suing the estate of Fahad Al Rajaan, its director from 1984 to 2014.
A Kuwaiti court convicted Al Rajaan of corruption and embezzling public money in absentia in 2016. He died in London in 2022.
The Public Institution for Social Security alleges that Al Rajaan and his associates received at least $970 million in bribes over two decades.
In the case that began in London on Monday, it is seeking about $156 million from Man Group, alleging that the company was involved in bribes paid to Al Rajaan to obtain investment in Man products.
But Man – whose CEO Robyn Grew and her predecessors are due to give evidence – say there is no evidence for the Kuwaiti fund’s case, which it is “robustly defending”.
The Public Institution for Social Security “has not identified any evidence showing that Man or its current or former employees knew of any wrongdoing”, a spokesperson said.
Its lawyers said in court filings that Man knew nothing about Al Rajaan’s corruption “let alone [did it] intend for any bribery to occur”.
EFG Bank is also fighting the pension fund’s allegation that it helped to launder corrupt payments.
The “bid to recover $450 million from a bank which paid no bribes and was not to any extent unjustly enriched through its relevant dealings is opportunistic and ill-conceived”, its lawyer Camilla Bingham said in court filings.
She added that the Kuwaiti state had already recovered around $600 million.
The trial is due to conclude in early 2026.
