A member of the Bahraini Royal Family is set to appear at the High Court in London in a bizarre case involving payments of millions of dollars in cash to meet his Bollywood idols.
Sheikh Hamad Isa Ali al-Khalifa is alleged to have reneged on an exclusive agreement worth up to $33.5m to meet 26 Bollywood stars at $1.5m per meeting, with a $500,000 bonus for every third meeting. The agreement was with Egyptian businessman Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed, who set up five meetings between the Sheikh and four Bollywood stars in 2016. But Ahmed alleges that the Sheikh backed out of the deal after paying only $3m, and then retained a different agent contrary to their allegedly exclusive agreement.
Representing the claimants, Sarosh Zaiwalla, Senior Partner at law firm Zaiwalla & Co, said, “This extraordinary case is due to come to trial next week, when we look forward to the cross-examination of the Sheikh over his contradictory evidence”.
The first claimant, Ahmed Adel Abdallah Ahmed, commented, “In spite of the endless amounts of cash he was willing to spend on his obsession, including on one occasion handing me a dark grey Samsonite suitcase and a Cartier or Rolex carton containing £600,000 and US $250,000 in cash, the payments suddenly dried up.
“The Sheikh claimed that the payments had stopped because the Bahraini Royal Family had taken over his funds and stopped him spending as they did not approve of his passion for Bollywood. I was shocked then to find he had met with 15 further Bollywood stars in eight days shortly after he terminated our agreement.
“Mr Saffy, the Sheikh’s assistant, menacingly said that I would be in “big trouble” if I did not leave the Sheikh alone after it became clear he would not pay. Indeed, I have been a victim of further threats of violence and intimidation since my solicitors’ first letter to the Sheikh. Given the positive relationship I felt we had built up during our work, I feel betrayed.”
The Sheikh’s vast wealth was inherited from his father, who was chairman of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. and a close adviser of the prime minister of Bahrain.
The five-day trial is due to begin on Monday 12th November, at the High Courts of Justice.
