Yemen Monitor / Special Reports Unit:
The criminal court under Houthi control in Sana’a has announced a public auction to sell land belonging to Bank Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank, with a total area of 124,076 square meters. This marks the third time in two years that the group has targeted the bank’s assets as part of a fierce conflict that began six years ago.
According to the announcement, the auction includes the sale of land with a total area of approximately 2,792 “Sana’ani Lebna” (one Lebna equals 44.44 m²), valued at about 9 billion and 418 million rials (old currency). The group has set May 16 as the date for partial or full sale.
The text of the announcement, published in two pages of a newspaper under their control, stated that this step is a continuation of Case No. (1) of the year 1446 AH, filed by the specialized public prosecution office under the Houthis against former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Bank Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank.
This is not the first time the group has announced a public auction of the bank’s land. In October 2025, there was a previous attempt to sell a bank-owned land located in the Aser neighborhood west of the capital, Sana’a.
Bank Al-Tadamun remained silent for the third time in response to the announcement of the sale of its assets by the Houthi group, issuing no statement. In contrast, the Central Bank in Aden warned against dealing with the announced auctions, threatening international sanctions, and affirming that the sales are void.
Bank Al-Tadamun has faced a series of harassment and rulings from the bank administration under Houthi control and the criminal court in Sana’a since 2020, including raids, closure, and accusations, culminating in the offering of its assets for sale.
In this report, we present the details of six years of conflict between the bank and the Houthis.
The Largest Seizure of Bank Land
The Houthi-controlled criminal court offered Bank Al-Tadamun’s land for sale in a public auction scheduled for May 16. The announcement detailed the areas: the total area of the first land was 736.42 lebna, with a total value of 2 billion, 634 million, 717 thousand, and 500 rials; the second land area was 762.6 lebna, with a total value of 2 billion, 530 million, 67 thousand, and 500 rials.
The third land area was 224.25 lebna, valued at 829 million and 725 thousand rials, while the fourth land recorded the largest area, totaling 1,068.7 lebna, with a value exceeding 3 billion, 425 million, and 677 thousand rials.
The lands offered by the militia included plots fronting streets with widths ranging between 14 and 40 meters. Some were classified as freehold, endowment (waqf), or leasehold, in addition to plots linked to schemes and lands belonging to Bank Al-Tadamun and Madinat Al-Tadamun (Solidarity City).
The court stipulated in the announcement that a guarantee deposit of 10% of the value of the land to be purchased must be deposited into the court treasury no later than one day before the auction date, according to the announcement.
In the first reaction, the Central Bank of Yemen warned against dealing with or participating in the sale of assets owned by banks and financial institutions.
In a statement on Saturday, the bank said that participation in these auctions exposes perpetrators to full legal accountability and places them at risk of being placed on local and international sanctions lists as supporters or collaborators with entities classified as terrorist. Bank Al-Tadamun has not yet issued any position.
Bank Land Auction on Al-Sitteen Street
In October 2025, the Houthi-controlled primary criminal court announced an auction to sell land in the Al-Sitteen neighborhood – the industrial complex – neighborhood unit 433, south of the Aser roundabout in Sana’a. The published announcement at the time stated that it was the second time offering a land parcel of 123 lebna for sale, with an estimated price of 3.99 billion rials, in the same case against Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Bank Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank.
In response to the Houthi announcement, the Central Bank of Yemen at the time warned against participating in any illegal procedures for disposing of properties owned by banks in Houthi-controlled areas.
The Bank-Houthi Conflict in 2021
In June 2021, the Houthi-controlled public prosecution office in Sana’a issued a decision demanding that Bank Al-Tadamun hand over funds it claimed were deposited in the name of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, specifying the amounts, account numbers, and types.
Following the prosecution office’s demands and the bank’s refusal, the group, through its controlled central bank in Sana’a, issued a directive the next day to all banking sectors within their control to seize the funds and balances of Bank Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank deposited with those entities.
In response to the Houthi measures, Bank Al-Tadamun sent a letter revealing the circumstances of its position, affirming its inability to dispose of the funds or implement the prosecution office’s decisions with the judicial custodian, fearing international sanctions that consider dealing with the group as money laundering.
It stated that the accounts to be confiscated are registered in Yemeni rials as an investor in Islamic sukuk (bonds) and another account in Saudi riyals linked to foreign investments, noting that disposing of them would mean paying them again to the client in government-controlled areas, potentially causing him “the greatest direct financial harm.” It also warned of another issue: it cannot risk exposing the bank to international sanctions.
Raiding and Closing the Bank
In November 2020, security elements from the Houthi-affiliated National Security Bureau stormed the main headquarters of Bank Al-Tadamun on Al-Zubairi Street in central Sana’a, looted the bank’s servers, and halted its activity before returning them. The bank said in a statement at the time: “Mutual political pressures threaten to halt banking activity and suspend external transactions of Yemeni banks.”
It added in its statement that “elements from the Houthi intelligence apparatus raided the main headquarters in Sana’a, stopped the bank’s servers, and forced employees to leave,” considering that “this action is a dangerous precedent in how the Central Bank deals with the banking system,” holding it responsible for these practices.
The Houthis responded to Al-Tadamun’s statement by accusing the bank of “engaging in activities harmful to the country’s economy.”
Hadi’s Balances According to Houthi Accusations
In 2021, a Houthi memorandum revealed that a judicial ruling had been issued against former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, including the confiscation of his funds, and demanded that Bank Al-Tadamun transfer them to an account they specified.
The Houthis stated in a published memorandum that the funds belonging to Hadi deposited in Bank Al-Tadamun included the first account: a huge amount exceeding 31 billion and 289 million Yemeni rials (31,289,623,900) registered under the type “portfolio.”
The second account (current account) held an amount of 636 million, 221 thousand, and 984 Saudi riyals.
A third current account in local currency amounted to more than 907 million Yemeni rials (907,722,643.44).
These huge sums have whetted the appetite of the group, which has been trying for six years to seize the balances while the bank is constrained between international warnings and sanctions on one hand, and its obligations to the client who might sue it and recover his full funds on the other – a conflict in which the weakest link stands before a group obsessed with extortion and money.
