Disabled conman who tried to blackmail Royal family: 'Karma has left me victim of new scam plot'

Studio Legale Internazionale
Matt Watts2 December 2015
WEST END FINAL

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A disabled conman who tried to blackmail a Royal family member has been stranded in Dubai for eight months after claiming "karma" has seen him become a scam victim himself.

Ian Strachan, who has changed his name to Charles Goldstein, served 30 months of a five-year sentence after being jailed for trying to extort £50,000 from a member of the royal family in a gay sex blackmail plot.

Now the self-styled property developer claims he is the victim of a plot to extort more than £100,000 after he was accused of wrecking a rental Audi R8 sports car while in holiday in Dubai.

Mr Goldstein, 38, from Kensington, has been stranded in the Arab Emirate since his passport was confiscated in March.

He said: "I know people might not have sympathy for me because of what I have done but I’ve realised the error of my ways and that is all behind me. I’ve served my time and am moving forward with my life.

"Maybe this is karma for what I’ve done but I just want to get home."

Mr Goldstein had his left leg amputated in 2013 after he fell from a collapsing second-floor balcony at his mother’s home in Chelsea soon after his release from prison.

He booked a three-week trip to Dubai to thank her for caring for him after the operation but was stopped by airport officials as the pair tried to board their flight home on March 25.

He said he was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine to settle a claim by Fast One, a firm through which he had hired the car with a girlfriend.

Mr Goldstein said he and the woman left the vehicle at the roadside after driving a short distance and deciding it was unroadworthy.

However, the company claimed it had been in an accident and presented him with a bill for £50,000 in damages.

He agreed to pay the fine in order to get back to Britain - where he was due to have surgery to remove bolts from his pelvis - but after being escorted to a police station claims he was told the bill had been raised to £100,000.

He was unable to pay and his passport was seized. He claims that he has been unable access specialist care since.

In September, he broke his right leg in eight places after losing his balance on an ill-fitting temporary prosthetic limb and is now in a wheelchair.

He said the case had still not reached court and claimed he had not been allowed access to the evidence against him that could help prove his innocence.

He enlisted the help of human rights group Detained in Dubai which is raising money for a lawyer to speed the legal process.

But he failed to tell them of his criminal past in the UK. They have vowed to still help him despite the revelations.

"It’s been a living hell and is getting worse," said Mr Goldstein. "I’d give my other leg to get out of here.

"I’ve never been so scared. I just want to get home to my friends and family and get help."

During his trial at the Old Bailey, jurors heard how Mr Goldstein asked to be paid for tapes in which a male aide claimed a married member of the royal family performed a sex act on him.

The aide also claimed the royal family member took cocaine with him.

Much of the trial, in which he was accused of blackmail with accomplice Sean McGuigan, was held in secret.

He was jailed for the attempted extortion and could now be sent to prison in the Middle East.

Radha Stirling, from Detained in Dubai, said: "I was disappointed Mr Goldstein didn’t share his criminal past with me as it may be used against him in the upcoming case.

"But I have to look at the case independently of the past and Mr Goldstein still urgently needs to get home.

"My contacts in Dubai tell me he could have been the victim of an increasingly prevalent scam when hire car companies are trying to extract large amounts of money from tourists."

Rashid Al Abdooli, the owner of Fast One, confirmed he had presented Mr Goldstein with a bill amounting to about 300,000 dirhams, adding the car was returned to him after a "big accident".

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We will continue to provide consular support. However, we cannot interfere in another country’s legal processes."

Mr Goldstein has set up an internet fundraising campaign to help release him from his plight. It has so far raised 15 Euros.

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