Sheffield United funded by £3million loan from family of Osama Bin Laden, court told
United's co-owners are currently locked in a High Court battle for control of the newly-promoted club
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Your support makes all the difference.Sheffield United received a £3million loan sourced from the influential Saudi family of Osama Bin Laden, a court has heard today.
United’s co-owners – Kevin McCabe and Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – are currently locked in a High Court battle for control of the newly-promoted Premier League club.
The pair’s relationship broke down two years ago and the case centres around the terms of a buyout provision in their initial investment agreement from 2013.
On the fourth day of the hearing, the court was presented with evidence regarding a £3m loan from Prince Abdullah which, his barrister said, links the club to relatives of Bin Laden.
The Bin Laden family is one of the richest and best-connected in Saudi Arabia, having accumulated their wealth through construction, and many of its members are highly westernised, living and working in the United States or Europe.
According to the Sheffield Star, Andreas Gledhill QC, leading Prince Abdullah’s legal team, said that McCabe was aware the loan in question came from “the Bin Laden family”.
The court was shown email between McCabe and Jeremy Tutton, a United director, in which Tutton says he would hate to see headlines claiming the club “launders money for extremists”.
McCabe dismissed this exchange as “banter”, though Mr Gledhill claimed that this shows he knew the source of the money. McCabe claims that Prince Abdullah said the loan would never need to be repaid.
The two co-owners met in 2013 when McCabe – who has ploughed approximately £100m into the club over the course of 12 years – was seeking fresh investment.
United won promotion to the Premier League last month, finishing second in the Championship to return to the top-flight for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
The trial is expected to last for several weeks.