Sheikh loses Bahraini palace to bookmaker Spreadex after racking up gambling debts
By GREG WALTO
Last updated at 11:16 AM on 9th July 2011
Bookmaker Spreadex is in line to receive a share in a Bahraini palace part-owned by royal family member Sheikh Hamad Al Khalifa after he racked up a quarter of a million pounds in gambling debts.
Spreadex moved to take a share in the palace through a ‘charging order’ granted by UK and Bahraini courts to the bookmaker, which is claiming £240,272.26.
Al Khalifa was ordered to pay in full by June 30 at an enforcement hearing held in Bahrain in April.
Now that he has failed to meet that deadline, Spreadex is expected to sell off Al Khalifa’s interest in a palace owned by the royal family, as directed by the enforcement court.
It is understood that other royals holding a share in the property will be forced to buy out the company, as according to Bahraini law only members of the ruling family should have stakes in royal palaces.
Al Khalifa is believed to be in London, and the court has asked officials to seize his passport or block his return to the oil-rich Saudi-backed kingdom.
The Bahraini authorities claim not to know Al Khalifa, but court documents show his UK address to be their London embassy.
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