Operator News
UK – Les Ambassadeurs sees freezing order lifted on indebted Sheikh
By Phil - 31 May 2020
A High Court ruling in the UK has seen a judge remove a freezing order on a Saudi Sheikh’s global assets which had been imposed in February following a fall-out with London casino Les Ambassadeurs Club after he failed to honour a £2m debt.
Sheikh Salah Hamdan Albluewi was accused of going ‘to ground’ when cheques issued in September last year bounced and the casino failed to efforts to recover themoney he gambled.
In September last year Les A temporarily increased his betting credit to £2m saying it knew ‘Mr Albluewi very well’ and was ‘satisfied that he is an individual of considerable wealth.’
A spokesperson at Les A said: “Despite a promise of payment from Mr Albluewi it never materialises and he ultimately goes to ground. It has also become apparent that Mr Albluewi has run up significant gambling debts with other London casinos and has simply walked away from them, presumably back to the safety of Saudi Arabia, where such debts…are completely unenforceable. It is the combination of Mr Albluewi’s failure to pay, coupled with his silence and apparent going to ground in Saudi Arabia, combined with a jurisdiction that is hostile to gaming debts and in which a relevant order of the English court would not be enforced that justifies the making of the (freezing) order.”
The Sheikh claimed had not picked up the initial communications from the casino. Mr Justice Freedman discharged the worldwide freezing order while the dispute over the alleged debt continues.
