Fraudster lied about partying in Canterbury with Saudi Prince to steal £90k Mercedes and hide DVLA fraud
Published: 06:00, 25 November 2019
Updated: 09:15, 25 November 2019
A fraudster who ripped off a dead Saudi prince when he stole his £90,000 sports car, made up elaborate lies in court to try and justify his crime.
Ozgur Gun, told a judge he was friends with Prince Badir Al Saud, and the pair would party together in Canterbury and London.
Gun even told Judge Mark Weekes, the prince showered his friends with thousands of pounds of champagne at all-night parties and strip bars - even handing one the keys to his £90,000 luxury car.
He claimed he raved in Canterbury’s Loft Bar with the prince, hung out in the city centre for coffee, and relaxed in Cousin’s snooker hall which Gun used to own.
The fraudster even went as far as saying his multi-millionaire friend, who died suddenly at the age of 19, would escort his Canterbury entourage to famous London clubs - Ministry of Sound and Egg - lavishing them with 30 bottles of bubbly costing up to £500 each.
Gun also told Judge Weekes the prince would talk about attractive women, they would snap each other in pictures, and he would ride in the prince's £93,000 Mercedes-Benz S500.
But the luxurious escapades were all part of Gun's fantasy, after ripping-off the dead royal in an elaborate DVLA fraud.
Gun, 40, told Judge Weekes he met Prince Badir through mutual friend ‘Faisal’, outside his Lower Bridge Street snooker hall.
He claimed he owned six nightspots at the time, and would often lend gambling addict Faisal money, with the debt soon spiralling to £35,000.
Gun told the court Prince Badir, who had apparently been studying in London, vowed to act as guarantor for Faisal’s debt.
He claimed the prince offered him the Mercedes by way of payment, but Gun refused.
He also said Faisal disappeared and Prince Badir, while visiting Saudi Arabia in December 2016, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
“When you heard the prince had died, what were you thinking?” Judge Weekes asked Gun.
“I was thinking ‘I’ve lost my £35,000 I need to get that somehow,” he replied.
And so Gun told the court he took Prince Badir’s S-Class from a London car park to recuperate money lost, and made fraudulent representations with the DVLA to register the vehicle in the fake name of Aurel Stoncea.
Prosecutor Allister Walker replied: “I suggest there was no debt at all, nobody owed anyone any money and you took the opportunity to exploit the death of Prince Badir and steal his car.”
Judge Weekes ruled the debt had not existed and Gun “lied repeatedly under oath.”
Gun's fabrications included claims he "did not know the prince was a wealthy man" despite apparently seeing him spend thousands on nights out.
He also told the court Prince Badir would travel from London to Canterbury by train "probably first class", prompting puzzlement from the judge.
Giving examples of some of Gun's lies the judge said: "The suggestion he didn't know the prince was a wealthy man after seeing him buy 30 bottles of champagne.
"The second is (that) a man in the prince's position would take the train from London to Canterbury."
Gun, now of Eastgate Street in Gloucester, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to committing fraud by false representation in December 2016 on the basis he was owed the car's cash value.
His basis of plea was rejected by Judge Weekes.
Gun was granted conditional bailed and will be sentenced on December 2 at the same court.
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Sean Axtell