Big deal, the guys at the top are all about greed. That model has been used by "religious leaders" for thousands of years.
Religion is used by greedy (in this case at least) leaders to control the people. Without religion in the region, which is admittedly a difficult thing to imagine, what are you left with? I certainly don't think it's any coincidence that America's Founding Fathers made a point of keeping religion and government separate. It becomes a lot harder to control the people without the big bogeyman in the sky to validate your authority.