Sara Al Amoudi Sara Al Amoudi, also
known as “The Vamp in Veil,” arrived at a London court each morning in a Rolls Royce
Phantom. She emerged from her luxury car, surrounded by bodyguards,
including some assigned to carry her handbag and her £50,000 diamond-encrusted phone.
Photographers snapped pictures of the green-eyed woman in her burka as she strutted across the
pavement. Days before, she testified under oath to spending $1.4 million on perfume over two months.
Under her burka, she appeared to be wearing designer heels. Every so often,
Al Amoudi stretched out her arm, revealing a wrist covered with gold jewelry and a gem-studded Rolex.
Meanwhile, she was on trial for stealing £14 million worth of property.
Mystery
Al Amoudi claimed she was a Saudi-born heiress who married at a young age. However,
she was forced to leave the country after having an adulterous relationship. To some friends, she
was the daughter of Mohammed bin Al-Amoudi, the owner of an upscale hotel in Jeddah and one of the
Wealthiest men in Saudi Arabia. She told others that she was a member of the Saudi royal family.
One man, who met Al Amoudi several years prior,
believed she was the estranged wife of the Saudi Arabian leader,
King Abdullah. One of her other boyfriends thought she was Osama Bin Laden's daughter.
Another time, when she successfully applied for a £4 million mortgage, she convinced HSBC bank that
she was the daughter of Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, one of the wealthiest men in the world.
According to Al Amoudi, her royal family sent her suitcases stuffed with £100,000
cash as a "weekly allowance." Others allege Al Amoudi was nothing more than a high-end escort.
Status
Al Amoudi claimed she was friends with Kate Moss and even dated Colin Ferrell, Joaquin Phoenix,
and a professional soccer player named Freddie Ljungberg. She’s also the ex-girlfriend of a
Swedish male model named Patrick Ribbsaeter. In a 2010 trial, Ribbsaeter said Al Amoudi
never wore a burka while they dated. She preferred designer clothing instead.
Ribbsaeter also said that Al Amoudi loved going to expensive restaurants, bars,
and nightclubs and drank champagne every night. She was involved with several other men over the
years, including one simply known as “Sammy,” whom she would have a daughter with. Apparently,
Al Amoudi used her daughter to get a variety of men to pay her child support.
Gerald Jerko Zovko, a private security contractor who lost his life in Iraq,
may have been married to Al Amoudi for a time. Then, in a 2008 business meeting,
she referred to a man named Cliff Besley, an Australian triathlon champion, as her fiance.
We can't say if she actually dated these men, but The Vamp clearly had high standards.
She was also involved with another man named Elliot Nichol, a property developer
worth around £25 million. In 2006, Al Amoudi and 3 other women, said to be her sisters,
split time between Elliot’s Central London flat and his house in the country.
Then, in December 2009, Mr. Nichol passed away from alcohol poisoning. Rumor has it that Elliot
was fascinated with the occult, and Al Amoudi used to call him from a phone number ending in 666-666.
Last on the list was a wealthy older man named Dominick Browne.
You may know him as Lord Mereworth, a member of the British Parliament.
Al Amoudi and Lord Mereworth maintained a close relationship for several years.
She even proposed to him at one point. On at least one occasion,
Mereworth and Al Amoudi dined together at the House of Lords. When the defense called Lord
Mereworth as a witness for Al Amoudi, he said she was a trustworthy person.
Old Roommate A London furniture
dealer named Negat Ali came forward after seeing a photo of Al Amoudi without her veil
and claimed she wasn’t of royal blood. She wasn’t even Saudi Arabian!
Ali said Al Amoudi was actually from Ethiopia. She explained that she first met Al Amoudi in
Yemen around 1985 and worked with her in a restaurant owned by Al Amoudi’s mother. The
two moved to Dubai shortly after, where Al Amoudi became a lady of the night.
Years later, the two women reconnected at a London club and became friends
again. She said they shared an apartment but eventually went their separate ways
after Al Amoudi borrowed £500 and never paid her back. Negat believed Al Amoudi wasn’t really
a Muslim and only wore a burka so she couldn’t be recognized by old acquaintances and victims.
Ian & Amanda Her £14 million court case
hinged on Al Amoudi posing as a Saudi princess and developing a friendship with two people
named Ian Paton and Amanda Clutterbuck. Amanda claimed that she was introduced
to Al Amoudi by her friend and business associate Elliot Nichol and that Elliot
vouched for Al Amoudi's royal status. Al Amoudi led Ian and Amanda to believe she
had limitless wealth and was well connected with wealthy business people in the Middle East. She
told them she was interested in investing in their £14 million property and promised they’d make over
£100,000 on the deal. But, there was a catch. To speed up the deal, Ian and Amanda had to
temporarily transfer ownership of the property over to The Vamp in Veil. While that sounded
shady, Amanda trusted Elliot’s judgment and signed the dotted line. Then, during a drunken stupor,
Elliot admitted Al Amoudi wasn’t Saudi royalty. She was an escort and a smart one at that.
Al Amoudi responded to the accusations, claiming Paton was actually her ex-lover and that he signed
over the properties to repay a debt to her. She explained that Paton was an addict and,
over 10 years, took millions of dollars from her to sustain his addiction.
Trial During the trial,
Ian Paton and Amanda Clutterbuck’s legal team focused on discrediting Al Amoudi and
showing that she lied about who she was, her royal status, and how much money she had.
They also tried to show the court that Al Amoudi was a former street worker. For the most part,
Al Amoudi’s lawyers ignored those claims. After hearing the case,
Justice Sarah Jane Asplin ruled in Al Amoudi’s favor.
She believed Paton did incur a debt with Al Amoudi, and the properties
were transferred as payment. She also thought Negat Ali was paid to give false statements,
so she didn’t accept her testimony as evidence. The judge was just getting started.
She believed Al Amoudi never referred to herself as a princess. So, she didn’t technically break
any laws. As far as her identity was concerned, Asplin didn’t deem it relevant to the case.
Ian and Amanda refused to accept the outcome and filed for an appeal
presenting additional evidence. A witness named Fatima Raidi came forward after seeing
a photo of Al Amoudi and testified that The Vamp in Veil was indeed a street worker.
On one occasion, she discovered her husband in a hotel room with
Al Amoudi. A man named Kevin Beard also gave a statement that he was Al
Amoudi’s driver and chauffeured her and 2 friends for nearly 5 years.
Kevin said Al Amoudi and the other women worked as escorts, were frequently drunk,
and liked to use party powder. The legal team also alleged that Al
Amoudi’s birth certificate was fake and that she was in the country illegally.
The next judge rejected their appeal. They agreed with Judge Asplin, believing
Al Amoudi’s true identity wasn’t crucial to the case and wouldn’t change the outcome.
The defeat crushed Ian and Amanda emotionally
and financially. They owed roughly £1.5 million in court costs but weren’t done
with the Vamp in Veil… not yet. Perhaps they could convince the London police to reopen the case?
Amanda and Ian knew it wouldn’t get them their money or property. But by now, it wasn’t about
that. They wanted to see Al Amoudi behind bars and were willing to do whatever it took. But, once
again, things didn’t go their way. The London Metropolitan Police informed Ian and
Amanda they were shutting down the investigation. Al Amoudi would not be charged with a crime.
Paton and Clutterbuck responded by enacting their victim's right to review,
which is a system that allows accusers to appeal when the police decide not to charge someone.
The police reviewed the specifics and confirmed they would stand by their original decision
to not charge Al Amoudi. Ian and Amanda had one card left to play. They'd bring
the case back to court, hoping a judge would overrule the police department.
Trial #2 This time, Ian’s brother George represented
the couple. He explained that because of the trial’s outcome, Amanda and Ian, as well as their
extended family, were out millions of dollars. He described how Ian and Amanda lost their
home and had to file for bankruptcy after Al Amoudi stole their property. George said the
police acted irrationally. Not charging Al Amoudi was ridiculous, as there was
more than enough evidence to slap the cuffs on. In Paton’s eyes, they had an extraordinary case
on their hands—one that involved a master con-woman and a series of deplorable crimes.
He told the judge they had DNA evidence proving Al Amoudi wasn’t a Saudi. They could prove the birth
certificate she used in 2008 when she applied for a mortgage with HSBC was fake and that Al
Amoudi presented fake evidence to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and during her trial.
He described how the police reported Al Amoudi as being unfit to be interviewed
but said he had no idea how they could make that determination. They never did anything to
verify her physical health or mental status. Lawyers for the Metropolitan Police responded
and said their detectives reviewed the case and found too many problems with
charging Al Amoudi. It wasn't worth taking her to court. But they did come close.
Aftermath They considered
the fraud case in which Al Amoudi was exonerated and concluded that the Saudi
government didn't cooperate when they asked them to help figure out who Al Amoudi was.
They didn’t have the manpower or resources required for a complex investigation,
and they didn’t have any evidence proving Al Amoudi was guilty of identity fraud.
George Paton challenged that conclusion, saying they ignored strong evidence discovered by a Saudi
law firm. Still, the judge decided to shut the investigation down. After all, any court would
be concerned about overturning a police decision after the police had thoroughly analyzed a case.
As if it helped, the judge sympathized with Ian and Amanda’s plight. He understood how
frustrated they probably were, and not seeing Al Amoudi behind bars must be crushing.
He continued by saying that the police provided good reasons as to why they
chose to end the investigation and that they weren’t required to explain their
decision regarding every piece of evidence. Click to watch one of these next videos!
Let us know in the comment section whether or not
you would push a magical button that would reveal a secret that someone close to you was hiding!