A 65 year old Syrian-born businessman Fouad al-Zayat known to many as the “Fatman” was in court yesterday to try to overturn a massive debt of £2 million to a London casino.

In the early hours of Saturday 11th March 2000 at Aspinalls Club in London, the Fatman had signed for four stacks of £500,000 of chips and he lost everything on a game of blackjack.

The Fatman refused to pay up and in 2006 Aspinalls Club won a High Court judgement which ordered Fouad al-Zayat to settle his debt and his assets, which include a Rolls-Royce and a Boeing 747 airliner, were frozen.

Mr Zayat however, continued to refuse to pay up and yesterday at the High Court he launched an appeal to overturn the original verdict.

Since that night in 2000, Mr Zayat had returned to the club on several occasions as the club had invited him back and since then he has lost a staggering £10.6 million.

His counsel, David Lord told Sir Anthony Clarke, the Master of the Rolls that the debt couldn’t be enforced as the club had invited him back to gamble and given him unlawful credit which he claimed was illegal under the 1968 Gambling Act.

David Lord also said, “Mr Al-Zayat says that if he had known that they were going to proceed against him, he would never have darkened their doors again”

In Aspinalls defence they claimed they backed off on the £2 million debt and invited him back as they didn’t want to lose one of their most valued customers.

The case will continue and the court will rule on whether the case should have a full appeal court hearing.

Earlier this year Mr Justice Steel had ordered Mr Zayat to clear his debt and also pay Aspinalls £150,000 in legal bills.  The court was told on this occasion that the Fatman had made 600 visits to the club in 12 years, and had bought £91 million of gaming chips and lost a total of £23 million.

After this verdict, journalists pursued Mr Zayat to his Cyprus home where he has lived with his wife for 30 years.

He was adamant he would never go to a London casino again and told one reporter that, “If you go to a restaurant and you do not like the food, then you do not pay.  If you go to the whorehouse and do not get the pleasure you were seeking, you do not pay.”

Mr Zayat’s gambling activities in other clubs are widely unknown but in 2002 he was sued for bouncing a cheque at the Ritz Club.  He claims to have visited this club 156 times in three years.

The Iranian government have also attempted to sue him in London claiming he took payment for a jumbo jet that was never delivered.

Mr Justice Langley gave the verdict that his aircraft leasing business registered in Cyprus didn’t do enough business in London to give British courts jurisdiction.
 
He has also been in trouble in the US courts as it has been claimed he gave thousands of dollars including gaming chips to a corrupt Republican Congressman

Mr Zayat is in an exclusive group of people known as the “whales” a group of rich   international gamblers who bet huge amounts in casinos and private clubs all on the turn of a card or roll of the dice.  The Fatman however is one of the top gamblers among the “whales” and has also been known for tipping casino staff thousands of pounds.

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