Fake Saudi prince gets 18 years jail in US

A Florida man who posed as a Saudi royal for three decades and cheated people out of $8 million will spend 18 years in prison for fraud, authorities said Friday. Anthony Gignac, 48, constructed a personal world of luxury from his regal scam involving fake diplomatic credentials and a coterie of bodyguards. Posing as Khalid Bin Al-Saud, he lived in a condo on Miami’s posh Fisher Island, drove a Ferrari with a forged diplomatic license plate and eagerly courted investors and gift-givers. Dozens of people deposited money into his bank accounts, thinking Gignac, whose apartment bore a sign on its door reading “Sultan”, would invest it. Instead, he spent it on everything from designer clothes to yachts to private jet rides. Amazingly, his years as a fraudster started to collapse like a house of cards around him when a real estate developer saw Gignac happily eating ham, bacon and other pork products that would normally be off-limits for a devout Muslim prince, according to the Miami Herald.