Maha al-Sudairi

Maha al-Sudairi (full name Maha bint Mohammed bin Ahmad al-Sudairi) is a Saudi princess and ex-wife of the country's former Interior minister, Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. She is well known for her elaborate shopping sprees.[1]

Biography

Maha was the cousin and third wife of Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, with whom she had five children.[1]

Maha acquired a luxurious property in Sweetwater Club Blvd., known as "Millionaires Row" in Sweetwater Club, Seminole County, Florida, for $2 million; she spent another $4 million on improvements, including having a guesthouse and prayer chapel constructed. The house was fitted with an elaborate security system and an arsenal.[2] She made news in 1995 when she became embroiled in a scandal for beating a servant who was suspected of stealing $200,000 in cash and jewellery from her.[2] The servant would not press charges, but the princess abandoned her multimillion dollar property with the windows open to the elements and never returned to the country.[2]

In 2009, Maha spent $20 million during an epic shopping spree in high-end Parisian boutiques, habitually walking out of the door after staff had been given an embossed card marked "Payment to Follow".[1] She lived in various top hotels in Paris, including the Crillon, which remained a long-time creditor; she then moved to the luxury Georges V hotel, owned by her nephew, Prince Alwaleed.[3] Shops she patronised report that her payment history had always been excellent, but that her staff started shrugging off payment all of a sudden.[3][1] She has since been pursued by some 30 Parisian retailers for 15 million Euro worth of merchandise.[4] Casualwear retailer Key Largo finally secured payment after obtaining a court order to seize goods from her Georges V hotel suite. Bailiffs were met by the Sauid consul, who issued a guaranteed payment for $125,000 in the presence of a chief of police.[5][3] Those debts were said to have been eventually settled through the Saudi embassy.[1] The negative publicity of her Parisian stay incurred the wrath of King Abdullah, who grounded her on her return from Paris. Nevertheless, she once again escaped back to Paris from Saudi in December 2011.[1]

Media reported that she and her entourage, occupying 41 rooms at the Shangri-La Hotel in the 16th Arrondissement in Paris where they had been staying since 23 December 2012, tried to sneak out of the hotel at 3:30 am of 31 May 2012 without paying the $7 million bill. Police were called, but Maha claimed diplomatic immunity. In the meantime pending resolution, she decanted to the Royal Monceau Hotel owned by a friend, the Emir of Qatar.[1][6] In March 2013, creditors obtained a court order from a judge in Nanterre, and two storage units containing Maha's purchases from 2012 were seized, to be auctioned off to satisfy creditors. Maha was barred from leaving Saudi Arabia after the latest spending spree.[1]

References

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