Mohammed Al-Fassi

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Mohammed Al-Fassi (* 1952 in Morocco ; † December 24, 2002 in Cairo ) was a Saudi Arabian - Moroccan businessman .

Life

Early years

Mohammed was the eldest son of the Moroccan trader Shams al-Din Abdullah Al-Fassi and his wife Faisa . He had three brothers (Allal, Mustafa, Tarek) and two sisters. When he was 10 years old, the family went to Saudi Arabia. His father was one of the purveyors to the royal family there, which made the family rich. His then 20-year-old sister Hind Al-Fassi became engaged in 1973 to the Saudi Arabian prince Turki ibn Abd al-Aziz , one of the 44 sons of King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud and brother of the future King Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz .

However, even his father was not considered a friend of the entire Saudi rule as he was an opponent of westernization . Since criticism of the royal family is still punishable today, the father was briefly imprisoned in 1970. The name AL-Fassi was so infamous in the royal family that Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz sped his car into unpaved terrain and had an accident there after his brother had told him about his marriage plans. Prince Turki was Vice Minister of Defense at the time and was aiming to marry the daughter of a politically convicted person. From then on, the AL-Fass-Turki clan began to wander through the world's hotels.

Due to the oil crisis of 1973, the wealth of the Al-Fassi-Turki clan also grew gigantic. Until 1978, Al-Fassi alone had apartments in London , Spain and Saudi Arabia, owned two Boeing 707s , 36 cars and a yacht worth 15 million US dollars. Al-Fassi was fond of animals of all kinds. In addition to his 26 horses, he ran a complete zoo in Saudi Arabia.

Whittier Mansion

Mohammed Al-Fassi became generally known in 1978 when he bought a villa , the so-called "Whittier Mansion", of the Californian oil pioneer Max Whittier , in Beverly Hills for 2.4 million US dollars. With the villa, Al-Fassi aroused the displeasure of the neighbors, as Al-Fassi not only had it painted green, but also had Italian statues on the property that clearly showed the genitals . In 1980 the house burned down due to arson .

Alvin helped Ira Malnik to sell the villa ; In April 1980 he had met with members of the Saudi Arabian royal family and was the financial advisor to Mohammed Al-Fassi and Turki Bin-Azis Al-Saud for a period of four years . His son 'Mark Malnik' married Sheika Hoda Al-Fassi , a daughter of Mohammed Al-Fassi , in Miami in 1982 . By December 1980 all named were on a trip around the world together. Mark Malnik changed his name to Shareef Malnik .

The background to the sale of the villa was also his divorce from the 24-year-old Italian Dena Bilinelli ("Sheika Dena Al-Fassi"), whom Al-Fassi had met in 1975 in London , married and from whom he divorced in 1983, which is around her raised three billion US dollars, half of the fortune of the then 28-year-old Al-Fassi . He had initially tried to evade payments and maintenance from his wife and four children, which led to some fines and even to imprisonment in a Florida prison .

The reason for the divorce was his love for the young American model Victoria , whom he married according to Arabic custom before the divorce, but which fled after a few weeks. Victoria claimed to have been beaten and held against her will; Wife Dena later stated something similar when she divorced.

Conflict with the royal family

Mohammed Al-Fassi returned to the Middle East ; like his father and brother-in-law Prince Turki , Mohammed also became an undesirable person in Saudi Arabia. He publicly criticized the Saudi royal family in several radio interviews in Baghdad . The background to this was the positioning of the Saudi royal family after the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990 , which triggered the Second Gulf War . In 1991, Al Fasi was arrested in Jordan and deported to Saudi Arabia. His criticism earned him three years' imprisonment, most of which he was allowed to serve as house arrest . He was expelled from Saudi Arabia and went to Cairo . In 2001 he was arrested and detained by the local police. His wife Samia was also arrested; two was the smuggling of antiques and artifacts accused.

In 2002, Al-Fassi died of a liver infection in a hospital in Cairo .

estate

Mohammed al-Fassi left three wives and seven children. The family of his sister Princess Hind Al-Fassi and Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud had also gone to Cairo. Prince Turki has not been rehabilitated to this day.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c "Tales from An Arabian Nightmare" by By William McWhirter on May 2, 1983 at www.people.com
  2. ↑ a b Mohammed al-Fassi on www.telegraph.co.uk of January 8, 2003 (English)
  3. ↑ a b Chronicle of Saudi Arabia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.arabischehalbinsel.de (no longer available online on October 24, 2011)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.arabischehalbinsel.de  
  4. ↑ Mohammed al-Fassi, 50; Upset Beverly Hills Over House on www.nytimes.com January 3, 2003

Web links

personal data
SURNAME al-Fassi, Mohammed
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saudi Arabian Moroccan businessman
DATE OF BIRTH 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Morocco
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 2002
Place of death Cairo , Egypt