A
SUPPOSED Saudi princess claimed yesterday that she is so wealthy she has
splashed out $1.5 million on perfume in the past two months.
Her spree has created an
Aladdin's cave-style display of opulence which has to be seen to be believed,
the High Court heard.
Sara Al Amoudi is
accused of being a one-time penniless Ethiopian prostitute who posed as a
princess to swindle London property developers Amanda Clutterbuck and Ian Paton
out of luxury flats worth $23 million.
But yesterday the
mysterious 'princess' - whose age has been given as between 31 and 45 - wept in
court as she assured the judge she had never been an impoverished prostitute,
that her wealth was genuine and that she had been on the shopping sprees to
prove it.
Miss Al Amoudi, who
arrived at the London court in a Rolls Royce with numberplates reading 'HRH',
told judge Sarah Asplin her shopping addiction was so serious she had sought
medical help.
In heavily accented
English, Miss Al Amoudi said: "I have a problem with shopping - I go to
doctor. In the last two months my perfume, only the perfume - $1.4 million
(AU$1.5 million). I can show you the pictures."
Miss Al Amoudi arrived
at court in a full burka and five-inch platform heels. At the suggestion of the
judge she removed her veil in the witness box, but still attempted to keep her
face hidden from onlookers.
She claims she had an
affair with her alleged victim Mr Paton, 45, behind the back of his lover and
business partner Miss Clutterbuck, 56, and that he borrowed and stole some $8
million of pocket money she received from Saudi Arabia.
She also insists that
when six exclusive flats in Knightsbridge and Chelsea were signed over to her
name, it was simply repayment for his thefts and loans.
But Mr Paton and Miss
Clutterbuck say she swindled them by pretending she had millions to invest in a
massive property project - allegedly claiming to be an estranged wife of Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah, 88 - and are demanding $23 million from her.
Yesterday, Miss Al
Amoudi insisted "in the name of Allah" that she was an honest woman
given some $16.5 million in cash by her family in the past decade.
She claimed she kept
money hidden under her bed and entrusted Mr Paton with half her cash for
"safekeeping", and insisted her only problems were wild spending.
Miss Al Amoudi said:
"I'm afraid I'm addicted to spending money, and get through enormous
amounts of cash. I can easily spend Pound50,000 (AU$82k) to Pound100,000
(AU$165k) in one spree."
At any one time she
would have "a minimum of Pound100,000 (AU$165k) and sometimes Pound400,000
(AU$662k)" stashed under a piece of carpet beneath her bed, she said.
She added that in Saudi
Arabia she was considered "like a criminal" because she had an
adulterous relationship, so her family had to send her pocket money in cash
stuffed into suitcases.
Miss Al Amoudi claimed
she married at 13 to a man she refused to name, saying that he was now a threat
to her life and that of her 13-year-old daughter.
But she claimed her
"lover" Mr Paton took advantage of her and that now he and Miss
Clutterbuck were lying about her.
Miss Al Amoudi said:
"They say I'm a prostitute. It's not true. I swear to Allah I'm not
liar." She said Mr Paton was a drug user. He denies taking crack cocaine.
Miss Al Amoudi was
accused by a male model boyfriend in a previous criminal case of having
regularly drunk herself into a stupor at nightclubs. But yesterday, when asked
by Stuart Cakebread, barrister for the plaintiffs: "Do you drink?",
she said: "I will not answer this question because I'm a Muslim
woman."
The court had earlier
heard witness Negat Ali, an Ethiopia-born south London furniture dealer, claim
the defendant was a former prostitute originally from Ethiopia. She claims she
came forward after seeing a picture of Miss Al Amoudi's unveiled face in the Daily Mail.
Miss Ali claimed she
first met the 'princess' in 1985 when Miss Al Amoudi was operating under a different
name and was helping her mother run a restaurant in the Yemen notorious for
luring in rich men and conning them. She said they fell out later after Miss Al
Amoudi failed to repay an $800 loan.
Miss Ali denied being a
disgruntled former maid of the 'princess'. The case continues.
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