Compulsive Saudi Gambler Loses £7 Million At The Casino

In Islam it is fine to play games, but where money is concerned it is stated: “There should be no prizes except for contests in archery, camel-racing or horse -racing.”
Consequently, countries such as Saudi Arabia have strict rules governing gambling with any offenders laying themselves open to full punishment by the law. Lucky for Fahad Al Tamimi then, that his gambling habit was vented in the UK, but not so lucky that it ended up costing him a whopping £7 million ($10.64m).
Fahad Al Tamimi, the president of the engineering and architectural firm Saudi Consulting Co was, according to court documents, “a wealthy and well-known businessman” who managed to blow the staggering sum of money over a five year period, mostly at Mayfair’s prestigious Les Ambassadeurs Club.
The details of Mr Tamimi’s heavy gambling losses may never have come to light if it wasn’t for the fact he borrowed a large part of it from a colleague at a nominal 10% rate. Mr Tamimi was then able to secure personal loans of between £50,000 up to £250,000 at short notice from Mohamad Khodari and repay them “very quickly, typically within a day or two”, or less in case of “success at the tables.”
However, the whole situation got out of hand after the two men had a major falling out and Al Tamimi “suddenly ceased to make full repayment.” Mohamad Khodari subsequently brought a civil action against his former friend and, despite the fact ‘there were no proper records and Tamimi was never asked to sign anything’, the matter has now been successfully concluded in the UK High court.
Mohamad Khodari, a senior director at Emirates NBD in London, has now been  awarded the outstanding amount claimed of “£240,500 ($365,567) plus interest,” after Al Tamimi had his appeal turned down last October.