>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1544687/No-more-London-bets-for-me-says-The-Fat-Man.html
>
No more London bets for me, says The Fat Man
By Malcolm Moore in Nicosia
Published: 12:01AM GMT 06 Mar 2007
Fouad al-Zayat, known as 'The Fat Man', has been ordered to pay Aspinall?s £2m Fouad al-Zayat?s home in a Nicosia
This is the gambler known as "The Fat Man".
Fouad al-Zayat avoids publicity, rarely gives interviews and photographs of him are almost unknown.
But yesterday The Daily Telegraph tracked down the Syrian-born businessman to Cyprus where he agreed to talk about his gambling.
In the High Court last week Mr al-Zayat was ordered to pay the London club Aspinall's £2 million, plus £50,000 costs, in a dispute over an alleged bounced cheque. He said he was "disgusted" at the decision and would never gamble in London again.
It was revealed in court that he had visited Aspinall's more than 600 times in 12 years, staking £91 million and losing £23 million. He fell out with the casino when it took him to court to recoup one night's unpaid gambling bill.
Locating him in Cyprus, where he has lived for more than three decades with his Lebanese wife, proved a challenge and it was only through enquiries in the Syrian community that he was found.
Mr al-Zayat 65, spoke at his office, close to his villa where he has lived for 35 years. His two-storey house in a quiet suburb sprawls over an entire block, and has a large swimming pool overlooked by olive trees and date palms.
Three large satellite dishes are mounted on the roof while giant terracotta amphorae and carved stone lions sit in the grounds. The driveway is full of BMW and Mercedes cars.
His office building is resolutely anonymous on the outside, with no number on the door or clue to what lies within. Inside, however, it is immaculate, decorated with French furniture and strewn with Persian carpets.
Wearing a black Armani pullover and drinking Arabic coffee, Mr al-Zayat said of last week's court case: "If my name was an English name, not an Arabic name, this would never have happened.
"Aspinall's is an English institution, it is the most aristocratic of the casinos, and I am a foreigner. For me, England is a country without a God, where money is the god. In my experience, there is no justice in England, whatever they may say," he said.
A Christian Syrian, Mr al-Zayat said he was a man of faith. "I can't call myself a religious man, but I have a lot of faith in God."
Mr al-Zayat lost the £2 million in a single session of blackjack in March 2000. However, the casino waited six years - the end of the statutory period after which the cheque would have been legally worthless - until it began proceedings against him, freezing assets including his £158,000 Rolls Royce and his Boeing 747 jet.
In court last week Mr Justice David Steel ruled against Mr al-Zayat. The judge said: "The scale of both his wealth and his gambling instincts are revealed by the fact that between October 1994 and April 2006 the defendant visited the claimant's club on over 600 occasions.
"In this time he purchased gaming tokens to the value of over £91 million and lost over £23 million."
Damian Aspinall, the club's owner, successfully argued that Mr al-Zayat's case was so weak that the matter should be disposed of without trial. The judge agreed and ordered Mr al-Zayat to pay up.
The Syrian is one of a select few gamblers known in the gaming industry as "whales".
The traditional definition of a whale is a man who stakes at least $1 million, or £520,000 every time he sits at a table. There are thought to be around 180 of them in the world, including Adnam Kashoggi. Generally, they are worth at least £500 million.
Mr al-Zayat is renowned for being exceptionally generous, often tipping waitresses thousands of pounds. But despite being well-known in London's gaming circles, he has stayed out of the limelight.
He explained that he had been unhappy that the casino had refused to change a croupier during the game, and that he had deliberately not dated his cheque so that the two sides could negotiate.
"Casinos give a service, and if the service is not good, considering the price which you are paying, then you do not pay," he said. "If you go to a restaurant and you do not like the food, you do not pay. If you go to the whorehouse and do not get the pleasure you were seeking, you do not pay."
He added that he was "surprised" when the casino decided to raise the matter later, and that they dated the cheque for him without his consent. "I have a fax that was sent to the casino, signed by me, saying they should not date the cheque without our agreement. However, the judge would not accept our statement."
Now, he said, he would never bet again in London. "The English casinos will give you anything you want, as long as you can pay. They surround you with public relations people to help you spend however much money you have," he said.
Mr al-Zayat is now retired, but remains a consultant to Samata Enterprises in Nicosia. He said he made his fortune in "construction, aviation, investment and oil, all over the world, in the Gulf and so on".
He strenuously denied rumours that he dealt in arms. "I did not make my money in arms, contrary to what people say. I never bought or sold arms. People like to say this because they are jealous of people who have money. I do not know the difference between a gun or a tank or a pistol."
James Osborne, the managing director of Aspinall's, said yesterday that there had never been any question that the casino would not bank Mr al-Zayat's cheque.
"The Gaming Act states that we have to bank the cheque within 48 hours - that is the law." He said the casino had taken legal action very reluctantly and had waited almost six years for the debt to be settled. "To suggest that we are anti-Arab, or anti-Chinese for that matter, would be commercial lunacy. In fact I rather like Mr al-Zayat and he is very charming."
>
