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 now-ex husband, the Sultan of Brunei (Image: AFP/Getty)
In an account 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, as well as the subsequent sale of £1million ($1,652,593) worth of fine jewelry to repay a few of her accrued gambling debts.
The hijab-covered woman testified in Isleworth Crown Court a week ago that she had certainly sold some of her gems to spend the IOUs, although she denied having once lost as much as £3 million ($4,957,781) in just one night of wagering.
According to Aziz, it had been 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 badminton-coach-turned-bodyguard that is former Lim, who stands accused of herself stealing £12m ($19,831,126) worth of diamonds from Aziz, substituting phony and essentially valueless copies inside their stead.
The 35-year-old Lim says that during a 20-month spree, Aziz took her sizable retinue of support staff with her to gambling venues around the world. Lim stated she had been later instructed by Aziz to sell the jewels on Aziz’ behalf when several casinos reportedly threatened to sue the ex-queen.
Aziz denied this in court, saying, ‘No, I never asked anybody, especially Fatimah Lim, to offer the diamonds, it myself. because I would do’
Lots of Dough to Spread Around
To put this in context, the Sultan is the wealthiest man in the world; 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. By having a £2.5m ($4,131,484) credit limit at upscale groups like London’s Clermont in Berkeley Square, Aziz could obviously play limits that are high make extravagant wagers without anybody feeling alarmed.
Moreover, it appears the supposedly devout Muslim Aziz a Royal Brunei Airlines trip attendant before becoming the Sultan’s wife prodded Lim to gamble herself, saying she would give both Lim and several other feminine bodyguards bankroll that is gambling the tune of £1,500 ($2,479) a pop. Their London casino sojourns would sometimes cover as numerous as three casinos nightly.
‘There were people in your wider circle not as enthusiastic about gambling that it was not in accordance with the activities of a Muslim,’ said Lim’s defense attorney Rupert Pardoe as you there was a perception. ‘You’ve got hatched a plot to blame Fatimah Lim for the theft of these bands and 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 marriage that is 21-year four kids, 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 long-term consort; the stripped-of-all-titles and today 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 of the titles and her allowance, as apparently was Aziz.
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Proposes Jail Time and Fines for Online Gambling
One Pennsylvania lawmaker really wants to make online gambling an offense punishable with jail time and fines (Image: AmericanMafia.com)
Pennsylvania might be among the largest states population-wise that is seriously considering online gambling, but that does not mean everyone else there is certainly on board quite yet. And even though the Keystone State studies the issue and watches how things work in neighboring nj-new jersey, one lawmaker not merely opposes putting online gambling into practice there, but actually desires to jail whoever tries to place a bet on the Internet.
Threatening Society, Scavello Says
That’s the plan from State Representative Mario Scavello, who thinks that online gambling is really a threat to families and children. He’s also concerned that problem gamblers could access web sites and have nobody and no mechanism to stop them from wasting everything they have right from the convenience of their own living rooms.
‘Here again, online gambling is well called the crazy West,’ said Scavello. ‘on the web, there’s no one around to keep attention on somebody who doesn’t understand when to stop.’
But while opposition to online gambling isn’t precisely breaking news, the specifics of Scavello’s proposition have absolutely drawn attention.
The bill he has put forward would actively punish online gamblers with fines and potentially time that is even jail. That would give Pennsylvania a number of the nation’s harshest punishments for online 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 worse on a offense that is second at that time, the crime becomes a misdemeanor, the maximum fine rises to $2,500 and offenders could be jailed for up to a 12 months.
‘I believe that if you hit people in their wallets, we can start to split down in the lawbreakers,’ Scavello said.
Adelson Backs Bill
Not surprisingly, Scavello’s bill was straight away supported by Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop online Gambling (CSIG). That team pointed to A quinnipiac that is recent poll discovered that 62 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania opposed the regulation and legalization of online gambling in their state.
‘We call regarding the Pennsylvania Legislature to vote in favor 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 on the ease of access to on the web gambling internet sites, Scavello also argued that Internet gaming could siphon cash far from Pennsylvania’s effective land-based casinos, aussie-pokies.club potentially costing the state income and jobs. He also claimed that online gambling could be used for criminal purposes, such as money laundering.
The proposal comes at any given time when Pennsylvania is actively seeking ways to expand the state’s gaming industry to compete with neighboring states. They’ve already authorized bars that are allowing other venues to host gambling devices, and Governor Tom Corbett has stated that the state lottery should additionally offer keno games to Pennsylvania residents. Online gambling has perhaps not yet been placed into the continuing state budget, but lawmakers are learning it for future consideration.
Scavello’s bill has discovered some supporters in the state legislature, particularly among fellow Republicans.
‘We realize that online gambling causes a whole 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.’
UK Mobile App Gambling Growth Going Strong
Mobile gambling particularly sports wagering has been growing exponentially in the UK, while traditional Internet play has dropped (Image: Courier-Mail)
What goes up, must come down. But 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. The truth is, it’s just a matter of what you want to look at it, as the globe of gambling is changing, and mobile gaming is becoming exponentially bigger year after year.
Slight Drop in Gambling Numbers Overall
First, there’s a report that is new from the British Gambling Commission that displays fewer residents gambled in 2013 than in 2012. It is only a small drop, however: 55 percent of UK residents said before they were surveyed in 2013, compared to 57 percent the year before that they gambled over the four weeks.
That report also provided a check whom is gambling and how frequently they’re doing it. A total of 60 per cent of male respondents reported gambling at least once a month, while that number was just 50 percent for women. Most 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 also as overall involvement had fallen. Some 15 percent said they had participated in online gambling over the past four weeks, up from 14 % a year before.
A percentage that is large of on line gambling is done through the UK’s National Lottery, which is also the most used form of gambling in the country overall. In-person gambling was still the most form that is popular of though, with nearly three-quarters of these who said they gambled saying that had only done so offline.
Mobile Gaming Is Growing
What do those figures actually mean? They show that online gambling continues to grow, but still includes a great deal more room for expansion. And something thing that wasn’t covered in the Gambling Commission report ended up being mobile gaming, that has grown extremely in just 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 UK bookmakers. Looking just the largest companies, it becomes clear that mobile gaming is the near future for online operators and that the long term may, in fact, be here currently.
For instance, William Hill has seen growth that is fast how much of these sports book revenue is now originating from mobile players. In 2012, just 26 percent of their sports book turnover arrived from mobile betting. But by the second quarter of 2013, that number had already raised to 33 per cent, and the company expects that to go above 40 per cent by the finish of 2014. Extremely, William Hill reported that year-over-year revenues for mobile gaming had increased 298 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
Others saw lower but nonetheless dramatic prices of mobile development. Paddy Power saw a 112 percent enhance in mobile revenue in 2013, while Betfair said activity that is mobile up 64 percent year-over-year. And sports guide Bet365 says that 1 / 2 of their clients now come from mobile devices.
According to the OddsWinner report, the growth in mobile betting is because of numerous facets, such as the increased usage of smartphones in the UK. More organizations will also be apps that are releasing versus forcing customers to link through their mobile browsers by itself.
‘Smartphones can now deliver the ongoing solutions needed to allow clients to bet in the move,’ said Push Technology CEO Sean Bowen. ‘they are carried by us every-where and therefore can bet at anytime, anywhere. There are more people with mobiles than PCs.’
Other factors range from the increase in interest for in-play betting on activities, and mobile-specific marketing campaigns by the major UK bookmakers.
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