Dozens of princes and former government ministers have been arrested in Saudi Arabia hours after an anti-corruption commission was formed.

Officials in the kingdom has frozen the bank accounts of 11 princes and 38 former government ministers, deputies and businessmen who are being held in five-star hotels across the capital, Riyadh, in the anti-corruption sweep.

The Saudi information ministry also stated the government would seize any asset or property related to the alleged corruption, meaning London’s Savoy hotel could become state property in the kingdom.

Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal - who is one of the richest men in the world and owns the British capital’s top hotel the Savoy - is one of the men who has been detained.

‘The accounts and balances of those detained will be revealed and frozen,’ a spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s information ministry said.

‘Any asset or property related to these cases of corruption will be registered as state property.’  

Those detained are being held in five-star hotels across the capital, Riyadh, in the anti-corruption sweep. 

Reports suggest some of the detainees are being held at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. 

A royal court official, Badr al-Asaker, on Sunday appeared to confirm the arrests on Twitter, describing a 'historic and black night against the corrupt'.

The powerful heads of the Saudi National Guard, an elite internal security force, and the navy were also replaced in a series of high-profile sackings that sent shock waves in the kingdom. Prince Alwaleed is one of the Middle East's richest people, with investments in Twitter, Apple, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Citigroup, the Four Seasons hotel chains and most recently in ride sharing service Lyft.

He's also known for being among the most outspoken Saudi royals, long advocating for greater women's rights. 

He is also majority owner of the popular Rotana Group of Arabic channels.

The government has so far only announced that an anti-corruption probe was launched, with state-linked media reporting that dozens of princes and ministers were detained without releasing their names.  

In June this year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was appointed to the role after his father, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, decided to depose former Crown Prince Muhammad bin Naye. The king also ousted Prince Miteb bin Abdullah from his post as head of the National Guard overnight. 

The prince is reportedly among those detained in the sweep, as is his brother, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, who was once governor of Riyadh. 

Both are sons of the late King Abdullah, who ruled before his half brother King Salman.

Saudi Twitter accounts released several other names of those arrested, such as Alwalid al-Ibrahim, a powerful Saudi businessman with ties to the royal family who runs the Arabic satellite group MBC; Amr al-Dabbagh, the former head of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; Ibrahim Assaf, the former finance minister; and Bakr Binladin, head of the Saudi Binladin Group, a major business conglomerate.