
Miriam Aziz in better days, when she still shared a throne along with her now-ex spouse, the Sultan of Brunei (Image: AFP/Getty)
The 59-year-old ex-wife of the Sultan of Brunei has fessed up in court to some major gambling arrears played out in London’s toniest casinos, and the subsequent sale of £1million ($1,652,593) worth of fine jewelry to pay off some of her accrued gambling debts in a tale worthy of any great novelist’s plotlines, Miriam Aziz.
The hijab-covered woman testified in Isleworth Crown Court a week ago that she had certainly sold some of her gems to pay the IOUs, although she denied having once lost as much as £3 million ($4,957,781) in only one evening of wagering.
In accordance with Aziz, it had been just £500,000 ($826,296), which probably for an ex-Sultaness is merely chump modification. But wait, because the plot thickens in this tale of broken hearts, broken allegiances and broken bank accounts.
Former Bonded Birdies Sing
Aziz also gave testimony against her female badminton-coach-turned-bodyguard that is former Lim, who stands accused of herself stealing £12m ($19,831,126) worth of diamonds from Aziz, substituting phony and basically valueless copies in their stead.
The 35-year-old Lim says that during a 20-month spree, Aziz took her sizable retinue of support staff with her to gambling venues around the globe. Lim said she ended up being later instructed by Aziz to sell the jewels on Aziz’ behalf when several casinos reportedly threatened to sue the ex-queen.
Aziz denied this in court, saying, ‘No, I never asked anyone, especially Fatimah Lim, to offer the diamonds, because I would do it myself.’
Plenty of Dough to Spread Around
To put this in context, the Sultan is considered the man that is wealthiest on earth; so the ex-Missus’ visits to casinos in popular spots like London, Singapore and Macau could hardly have raised an eyebrow. At first, anyway. With a £2.5m ($4,131,484) credit limit at upscale groups like London’s Clermont in Berkeley Square, Aziz could obviously play high limits and make extravagant bets without anybody feeling alarmed.
More over, it seems the supposedly devout Muslim Aziz a Royal Brunei Airlines journey attendant before becoming the Sultan’s wife prodded Lim to gamble herself, saying she would give both Lim and some other feminine bodyguards gambling bankroll to the tune of £1,500 ($2,479) a pop. Their London casino sojourns would sometimes cover as much as three casinos nightly.
‘There were individuals in your wider group not as enthusiastic about gambling that it was not in accordance with the activities of a Muslim,’ said Lim’s defense attorney Rupert Pardoe as you there was a perception. ‘You’ve got hatched a plot to blame Fatimah Lim for the theft of these bands and this diamond bracelet.’
Lim stands accused of three counts of theft in the trial that is still-ongoing.
Aziz’ ex-husband Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah divorced Aziz after a marriage that is 21-year four young ones, in 2003. It’s difficult to keep track of his various and sundry matrimonies and his progeny, but it appears like the rating is: one royal consort that is long-term the stripped-of-all-titles and now ex, Aziz; and a former Malaysian television hostess who only made it five years with her royal ex, and who was also stripped of most titles and her allowance, as apparently was Aziz.
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Proposes Jail Time and Fines for On The Web Gambling
One Pennsylvania lawmaker would like to make online gambling an offense punishable with jail some time fines (Image: AmericanMafia.com)
Pennsylvania might be one of the largest states population-wise that is seriously considering on line gambling, but that does not suggest everybody else there is certainly on board quite yet. And even though the Keystone State studies the problem and watches how things work with neighboring nj, one lawmaker not just opposes putting online gambling into practice there, but actually wants to jail anybody who attempts to place a bet on the web.
Threatening Society, Scavello Says
That’s the plan from State Representative Mario Scavello, who thinks that online gambling is a threat to families and young ones. He is also concerned that problem gamblers could access web sites and have nobody and no mechanism to stop them from throwing out everything they will have right from the comfort of these own living spaces.
‘Here again, online gambling is best described as the crazy West,’ said Scavello. ‘Online, there’s no one around to keep an optical eye on somebody would youn’t understand when to stop.’
But while opposition to online gambling isn’t precisely breaking news, the specifics of Scavello’s proposition have certainly drawn attention.
The bill he has placed forward would actively punish online gamblers with fines and potentially even jail time. That would offer Pennsylvania a number of the nation’s harshest punishments for on line gambling, rivaling Washington State for that title.
A first violation would be a summary offense and would carry a fine of up to $300 and up to 90 days in jail under Scavello’s bill. Things get much even worse on a second offense: at that time, the criminal activity becomes a misdemeanor, the maximum fine rises to $2,500 and offenders could be jailed for up to a year.
‘I genuinely believe that we can start to crack down on the lawbreakers,’ Scavello said if you hit people in their wallets.
Adelson Backs Bill
And in addition, Scavello’s bill was straight away supported by Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG). That group pointed to A quinnipiac that is recent poll discovered that 62 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania opposed the regulation and legalization of on line gambling in their state.
‘We call on the Pennsylvania Legislature to vote in favor of this bill and send a message that is powerful online gaming has no place in American society,’ CSIG said in a declaration.
Along with concerns on the ease of access to online gambling web sites, Scavello also argued that online gaming could siphon money away from Pennsylvania’s successful casinos that are land-based potentially costing the state income and jobs. He also claimed that online gambling could be employed for criminal purposes, particularly money laundering.
The proposition comes at a time when Pennsylvania is ways that are actively seeking expand the state’s gaming industry to compete with neighboring states. They have already approved allowing bars and other venues to host gambling machines, and Governor Tom Corbett has stated that the state lottery should also offer keno games to Pennsylvania residents. Online gambling has maybe not yet been put to the continuing state budget, but lawmakers happen learning it for future consideration.
Scavello’s bill has found some supporters within the continuing state legislature, particularly among fellow Republicans.
‘We know that online gambling causes a lot of exploitation by various dubious characters that are out there,’ said State Representative David Millard. ‘Being addicted to gaming is such as for instance a cancer in our community.’
British Mobile App Gambling Growth Going Strong
Mobile gambling particularly sports betting has been growing exponentially in the UK, while traditional Internet play has dropped (Image: Courier-Mail)
What goes up, must come down. However in the case of the united kingdom gambling market, two current studies are making it seem that the industry is both up and down at the same time. In fact, it’s just a matter of what you need to look at it, as the globe of gambling is changing, and gaming players paradise slots free coins that is mobile becoming exponentially bigger 12 months after year.
Slight Drop in Gambling Numbers Overall
First, there’s a report that is new through the UK Gambling Commission that shows fewer residents gambled in 2013 than in 2012. It is only a small drop, however: 55 percent of UK residents said before they were surveyed in 2013, compared to 57 percent the year before that they gambled over the four weeks.
That report also provided an examine who is gambling and how frequently they’re doing it. An overall total of 60 percent of male respondents reported gambling at least once a while that number was just 50 percent for women month. Many gamblers said they only played as soon as a week, or less.
The commission also looked at online gambling, and saw that participation in Web betting was up even as general involvement had dropped. Some 15 percent said they had participated in online gambling over the very last a month, up from 14 per cent a before year.
A large percentage of that online gambling is done through the UK’s National Lottery, which is also the most used form of gambling in the world overall. In-person gambling was still the many form that is popular of though, with almost three-quarters of those who stated they gambled saying that had only done so offline.
Mobile Gaming Is Growing
What do those numbers actually mean? They show that online gambling continues to still grow, but includes a lot more space for expansion. And something thing that was not covered in the Gambling Commission report had been mobile gaming, which has grown extremely in just the last year.
That expansive growth was illustrated in a report by OddsWinner.com, which studied the online and mobile revenues for the top UK bookmakers. Searching at just the largest companies, it becomes clear that mobile video gaming is the future for online operators and that the future may, in reality, be here already.
For instance, William Hill has seen fast growth in how much of the activities book revenue is now originating from mobile players. In 2012, just 26 percent of their sports guide return came from mobile wagering. But by the 2nd quarter of 2013, that number had already raised to 33 per cent, and the company expects that to go above 40 per cent by the end of 2014. Extremely, William Hill reported that year-over-year revenues for mobile gaming had increased 298 percent from 2012 to 2013.
Other programs saw lower but nonetheless dramatic prices of mobile development. Paddy Power saw a 112 percent enhance in mobile revenue in 2013, while Betfair said mobile activity was up 64 percent year-over-year. And sports guide Bet365 says that half of their customers now come from cellular devices.
In line with the OddsWinner report, the development in mobile betting is due to numerous factors, including the increased usage of smartphones in the UK. More companies are apps that are releasing rather than forcing clients to link through their mobile browsers by itself.
‘Smartphones can now deliver the ongoing solutions needed to permit customers to bet in the move,’ said Push Technology CEO Sean Bowen. ‘they are carried by us every-where and therefore can bet at anytime, anywhere. There are more people with mobiles than PCs.’
Other factors are the increase in interest for in-play wagering on recreations, and mobile-specific marketing campaigns by the major UK bookmakers.