'Nothing secretive' about Jordan king's real estate, FM says
ABC News
Jordan’s foreign minister has pushed back against a report that the country's monarch went out of his way to hide the purchase of more than a dozen luxury homes worth over $106 million
AMMAN, Jordan -- Jordan’s foreign minister on Thursday pushed back against a report that the country’s monarch, King Abdullah II, went out of his way to hide the purchase of more than a dozen luxury homes worth more than $106 million, saying there was "nothing secretive” about the transactions.
Ayman Safadi also told The Associated Press that none of the billions of dollars of international aid the kingdom has received over the years were used to fund the purchases, and that strict safeguards are in place to prevent any abuses.
“Any insinuation that the financing of those properties came through illegal manners is also baseless, because his majesty paid from his personal funds for this,” he said. “Any attempt to link between these and donor money is again baseless because every cent in donor money is accounted for and audited by us and by the donors themselves."
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, citing information from a trove of leaked documents, reported earlier this week that Abdullah obtained the properties through offshore shell companies.