Gambling Ex-Wife of Sultan of Brunei Accuses Bodyguard of £12m Theft

Miriam Aziz in better days, when she still shared a throne along with her husband that is now-ex Sultan of Brunei (Image: AFP/Getty)
In a tale worthy of any great novelist’s plotlines, Miriam Aziz the 59-year-old ex-wife associated with the Sultan of Brunei has fessed up in court to some major gambling arrears played out in London’s toniest gambling enterprises, while the subsequent sale of £1million ($1,652,593) worth of superb to repay a number of her accrued gambling debts.
The hijab-covered woman testified in Isleworth Crown Court a week ago although she denied having once lost as much as £3 million ($4,957,781) in just one night of wagering that she had indeed sold some of her gems to pay the IOUs.
Based on Aziz, it absolutely was just £500,000 ($826,296), which probably for an ex-Sultaness is merely chump modification. But wait, because the plot thickens in this tale of broken hearts, broken allegiances and broken bank reports.
Former Bonded Birdies Sing
Aziz additionally gave testimony against her feminine former badminton-coach-turned-bodyguard Fatimah Lim, who appears accused of herself stealing £12m ($19,831,126) worth of diamonds from Aziz, substituting phony and basically valueless copies in their stead.
The 35-year-old Lim says that during a spree that is 20-month Aziz took her sizable retinue of support staff with her to gambling venues around the world. Lim said she was later instructed by Aziz to sell the jewels on Aziz’ behalf when casinos that are several threatened to sue the ex-queen.
Aziz denied this in court, saying, ‘No, I never ever asked anyone, especially Fatimah Lim, to offer the diamonds, it myself. because I would do’
Plenty of Dough to Spread Around
To put this in context, the Sultan is the wealthiest man on earth; and so the ex-Missus’ visits to casinos in popular spots like London, Singapore and Macau could hardly have raised an eyebrow. At first, anyway. Having a £2.5m ($4,131,484) credit limit at upscale groups like London’s Clermont in Berkeley Square, Aziz could obviously play high limits and make extravagant wagers without anybody feeling alarmed.
Moreover, it seems the supposedly devout Muslim Aziz a Royal Brunei Airlines flight attendant before becoming the Sultan’s wife prodded Lim to gamble herself, saying she’d give both Lim and some other feminine bodyguards gambling bankroll to the tune of £1,500 ($2,479) a pop. Their London casino sojourns would sometimes cover as many as three casinos nightly.
‘There were individuals in your wider circle not as enthusiastic about gambling as you there was a perception that it had not been relative to the activities of a Muslim,’ said Lim’s protection attorney Rupert Pardoe. ‘You’ve got hatched a plot to blame Fatimah Lim for the theft of these rings and also this diamond bracelet.’
Lim stands accused of three counts of theft in the still-ongoing trial.
Aziz’ ex-husband Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah divorced Aziz after a 21-year wedding and four kiddies, in 2003. It’s difficult to keep track of his various and sundry matrimonies and his progeny, but it appears like the rating is: one royal consort that is long-term the stripped-of-all-titles and now ex, Aziz; and a former Malaysian television hostess who only made it five years with her royal ex, and who was also stripped of all titles and her allowance, as reportedly was Aziz.
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Proposes Jail Time and Fines for On Line Gambling
One Pennsylvania lawmaker desires to make online gambling an offense punishable with jail some time fines (Image: AmericanMafia.com)
Pennsylvania might be among the biggest states population-wise that is seriously considering on the web gambling, but that does not mean everyone there is certainly on board quite yet. And while the Keystone State studies the issue and watches how things work in neighboring New Jersey, one lawmaker not only opposes putting online gambling into practice there, but really desires to jail whoever attempts to place a bet on the web.
Threatening Society, Scavello Says
That’s the plan from State Representative Mario Scavello, who believes that online gambling is just a threat to families and children. He is also concerned that problem gamblers could access internet sites and have nobody and no mechanism to stop them from wasting everything they will have right from the convenience of the own areas.
‘Here again, online gambling is well referred to as the crazy West,’ said Scavello. ‘Online, there is no one around to keep an optical attention on some body would youn’t understand when to stop.’
But while opposition to online gambling isn’t precisely news that is breaking the specifics of Scavello’s proposition have undoubtedly drawn attention.
The bill he has put forward would actively punish online gamblers with fines and potentially time that is even jail. That would offer Pennsylvania some of the nation’s harshest punishments for on line gambling, rivaling Washington State for that title.
A first violation would be a summary offense and would carry a fine of up to $300 and up to 90 days in jail under Scavello’s bill. Things get much even worse for a offense that is second at the period, the criminal activity becomes a misdemeanor, the maximum fine rises to $2,500 and offenders could be jailed for up to a 12 months.
‘I think that we can start to crack down on the lawbreakers,’ Scavello said if you hit people in their wallets.
Adelson Backs Bill
Needless to say, Scavello’s bill was straight away supported by Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop online Gambling (CSIG). That team pointed to a present quinnipiac poll that discovered that 62 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania opposed the regulation and legalization of on line gambling in their state.
‘We call on the Pennsylvania Legislature to vote in support of this bill and send a powerful message that online gaming has no place in American society,’ CSIG stated in a declaration.
Along with concerns throughout the ease of access to on the web gambling web sites, Scavello additionally argued that online gaming could siphon cash far from Pennsylvania’s successful casinos that are land-based potentially costing the state revenue and jobs. He also claimed that online gambling could be useful for criminal purposes, particularly money laundering.
The proposal comes at the same time when Pennsylvania is actively seeking ways to expand the state’s gaming industry to compete with neighboring states. They will have already authorized bars that are allowing other venues to host gambling devices, and Governor Tom Corbett has said that the state lottery should also offer keno games to Pennsylvania residents. Online gambling has perhaps not yet been put to the continuing state budget, but lawmakers were learning it for future consideration.
Scavello’s bill has discovered some supporters within the continuing state legislature, particularly among fellow Republicans.
‘We know that online gambling results in a lot of exploitation by various dubious characters that are out there,’ said State Representative David Millard. ‘Being addicted to gaming is such as for instance a cancer in our community.’
British Mobile App Gambling Growth Going Strong
Mobile gambling particularly sports betting has been growing exponentially in the UK, while traditional Internet play has fallen (Image: Courier-Mail)
What goes up, must come down. However in the case of the united kingdom gambling market, two present studies have made it seem that the industry is both down and up at the time that is same. In fact, it’s just a matter of what you need to view it, as the world of gambling is changing, and gaming that is mobile becoming exponentially larger 12 months after year.
Slight Drop in Gambling Numbers Overall
First, there’s a new report out from the UK Gambling Commission that presents fewer residents gambled in 2013 than in https://aussie-pokies.club/players-paradise-slot/ 2012. It’s merely a small drop, however: 55 percent of UK residents said that they gambled over the four months before they certainly were surveyed in 2013, contrasted to 57 per cent the entire year before.
That report also offered a check whom is gambling and how frequently they’re doing it. An overall total of 60 % of male respondents reported gambling at least once a thirty days, while that number was just 50 percent for females. Many gamblers said they only played once a or less week.
The commission also looked at online gambling, and saw that participation in Internet betting had been up even as overall involvement had fallen. Some 15 per cent said they had participated in online gambling over the last four weeks, up from 14 % a year before.
A large percentage of that on line gambling is done through great britain’s National Lottery, which is also the most used form of gambling in the world overall. In-person gambling was still the many popular kind of betting though, with almost three-quarters of these who stated they gambled stating that had only done so offline.
Mobile phone Gaming Is Growing
What do those figures actually mean? They show that online gambling continues to still grow, but includes a lot more room for expansion. And something thing that wasn’t covered in the Gambling Commission report had been mobile gaming, that has grown extremely in simply the year that is last.
That growth that is expansive illustrated in a report by OddsWinner.com, which studied the web and mobile revenues for the top British bookmakers. Searching at only the largest companies, it becomes clear that mobile gaming is the long run for online operators and that the near future may, in reality, be right here already.
For instance, William Hill has seen growth that is fast how much of these recreations guide income is now originating from mobile players. In 2012, just 26 percent of their sports book return came from mobile betting. But by the quarter that is second of, that number had already raised to 33 %, and the organization expects that to go above 40 per cent by the end of 2014. Incredibly, William Hill reported that year-over-year revenues for mobile gaming had increased 298 % from 2012 to 2013.
Others saw lower but nonetheless dramatic rates of mobile growth. Paddy Power saw a 112 percent increase in mobile revenue in 2013, while Betfair said mobile activity had been up 64 percent year-over-year. And sports book Bet365 says that 50 % of their customers now come from mobile devices.
Based on the OddsWinner report, the development in mobile betting is because of numerous facets, such as the increased usage of smartphones in the UK. More organizations may also be releasing apps, rather than forcing customers to connect through their mobile browsers by itself.
‘Smartphones are now able to deliver the ongoing solutions needed to permit customers to bet in the move,’ said Push Technology CEO Sean Bowen. ‘they are carried by us everywhere and therefore can bet at anytime, anywhere. There are many people with mobiles than PCs.’
Other factors include the rise in interest for in-play betting on recreations, and marketing that is mobile-specific by the major UK bookmakers.
