Dubai nightclub high roller of Dh217k arrested over suspicion of fraud

A London-based high roller who boasted of racking up a bill of Dh217,000 on bubbly alone at the Cirque Du Soir nightclub in Dubai, has been arrested last evening.
 
The 23-year-old Alex Hope, as it's being quoted in the media, was arrested on investigation of over committing financial fraud.
 
This is the same trader, if one recalls, who had appeared on the pages of UK’s Mirror, for splashing a whopping £203,948.80 or Dh1.19 million in a single night of indulgence at a Liverpool nightclub, earlier this year.
 
The 99lb bottle had to be hoisted by two servers.
 
In a press statement, the Financial Services Authority said: “With the assistance of the City of London Police, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) executed a search warrant at one address in East London in connection with an investigation into a suspected unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme.
 
“A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of committing offences under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Fraud Act 2006.
 
“No one has been charged at this stage in connection with the FSA’s investigation, which is ongoing.
 
“No further details can be confirmed at this time. The arrest is not linked to any other FSA investigations.”
 
Hope’s publicist later confirmed the identity to the news media.
 
Evidence of Hope’s wild partying was splashed on micro blogging site Twitter, where the ‘Alex Ace of Spades’ handle saw him partying with reality star Katie Price, along with partying Cirque Du Soir, with an image posted of the bar receipt where he spent the said Dh217K on the bubbly.
 
The picture caption simply read: “Cirque Du Soir last night went off! Ace Heaven! Because I can! 200k Dirhams [sic].”
 
The young trader’s exorbitant lifestyle has once again brought under the scanner the indulgence of the rich and famous in nightclubs.
 
Earlier this week, news agency AFP ran a story of a Saudi Arabian millionaire who splurged $136,000 or nearly Dh500K at the Cavalli Club over the previous weekend.
 
Priced into millions
 
It was on January 2 when a few groggy-eyed Facebook junkies logged into their accounts to see a newsfeed inundated with comments over a single bill from Dubai’s popular Cavalli Club that racked up a tally of Dh366K.
 
The media blitzkrieg that followed has snowballed further in the coming days, as neighbouring Abu Dhabi emerged with its own nightclub bill that trumped the Dubai one by a whopping Dh110K.
 
Emirates Palace hotspot, Etoiles, found its name on a bill this time around with a price tag of Dh476,056.88, which was paid on January 4, 2012 at 3.44am.
 
The service charge on this nightclub bill alone was Dh41, 211.80.
 
However, the favoured drink of choice on the bill was also Cristal, which retails at the club at Dh6,000 per bottle; a whopping 22 bottles of the bubbly were listed at a tally of Dh132,000.
 
Notably, the Cavalli Club bill also had three separate billings on Cristal that added up to Dh279,240.
 
In an email interview at the time, David Lescarret, Operation Manger, Cavalli Club, Restaurant and Lounge told the website: “Spend of this nature is not unusual at Cavalli Club, Restaurant and Lounge.
 
“A high-end, designer branded venue such as ours has seen high-spenders consistently frequent the venue since its inception.”
 
He added that the Dubai club’s most exclusive item currently on offer is the world’s most expensive bottle of bubbly: a limited edition Louis Roederer, Millennium Cristal Brut 1990, 6L.
 
The bottle is priced at Dh500,000 and only two others are available for sale in the world: one in London and the other in New York.

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