Amman – The Royal Hashemite Court has been following recently published media reports on bank accounts for His Majesty King Abdullah II, which included inaccuracies, and outdated and misleading information that were employed with the aim of defaming Jordan and His Majesty, as well as distorting the truth, Jordan news agency reported.
In line with the principles of transparency and openness, the Royal Hashemite Court clarifies the following:
The total balance mentioned in a number of reports is inaccurate and exaggerated, as a result of significant duplicative counting.
The majority of the sums listed in the accounts relate to the sale of a large Airbus 340 airplane for $212 million, and replacing it with a smaller, less costly Gulfstream aircraft. His Majesty had inherited two planes from His Majesty the late King Hussein, which were sold, with the resulting sum used to replace them more than once over the past 20 years, including the sale of the Airbus 340 and the purchase of the Gulfstream aircraft currently used by His Majesty.
The surplus sum that resulted from replacing the large aircraft with a smaller one is used with His Majesty’s private assets and personal wealth to cover the private expenses of the Hashemite family and fund various Royal initiatives over the past years.
The closed accounts referenced in the reports include an account with deposits inherited by His Majesty from his father, the late King Hussein.
As for the account established as a trust fund for His Majesty King Abdullah II’s children and opened under Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah’s name, the funds came from the King’s private wealth, and the account was entrusted to their mother, as they were minors at the time.
His Majesty’s private assets and wealth have always been independent of the Treasury and public funds, and they are administered by the Privy Purse, which is a directorate that has been at the Royal Hashemite Court for over 70 years.
The Royal Hashemite Court reiterates that all international assistance is subject to professional audits, and their allocations are fully accounted for by the government and donor entities, in accordance with cooperation agreements subject to the highest standards of governance and oversight.
Any allegations that link the funds in these accounts to public funds or foreign assistance are defamatory, baseless, and deliberate attempts to distort facts and systematically target Jordan’s reputation as well as His Majesty’s credibility, especially coming after similar reports published last year that were based on leaks from previous years.
