Ealing man entertained All Blacks with champagne
An Ealing based conman who lived the high life using bogus credit card numbers has been jailed for 30 months.
Ari Ali of St. Mary's Road ran up bills of over £150,000 using the American Express Credit Card numbers of other people. He frequented expensive central London night clubs such as Movida and lavished guests, including the All Blacks rugby team, with champagne. In one session he bought 45 bottles of champagne.
Southwark Crown Court heard that staff at the night clubs turn a blind eye to Ali's activities which were only brought to an end when the club owners complained about a non-payment. Ali, who was a manager at a mobile phone company, was arrested at the Hedges and Butler private members' club last year.
His defence counsel said that some of the staff had inflated the bills so that they could used the drinks for themselves. When Ali bought 45 bottles there were only eight people in his party.
Ali had had previous convictions for dishonesty and had already served a three month jail sentence for providing false documentation to buy a car. He told his probation officer that his motivation for the spree was sheer greed.
August 3, 2007
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