Pirelli model may have to sue own daughter to get ex-husband’s cash
CHIEF REPORTER EVEN from beyond the grave Dr Walid Juffali continues to defy his former wife. The Saudi tycoon succumbed to cancer on July 20, just nine days before a deadline set by the High Court for him to pay a settlement to Christina Estrada, once a Pirelli calendar model.
Sources told that the court deadline has come and gone and Miss Estrada, 54, has not received her settlement, made up of cash and assets.
One said: “Good luck to her getting the money. Walid has died and his estate is in Saudi Arabia.”
Two years before his death at the age of 61, Dr Juffali put in place a deal involving his three daughters, one of them by his marriage to Miss Estrada, where he “sold” them his assets under Sharia, or Islamic law.
Miss Estrada is now faced with the prospect of suing her own 13-year-old daughter, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, as well as her stepdaughters in order to get her hands on her court award.
Dr Juffali’s financial dealings, disclosed in a 52-page High Court judgment, show that in June 2013 “he entered into a contract by which he purported to sell the bulk of his Saudi assets to his three daughters from his first and second marriages for just over £512 million”.
A source close to Miss Estrada said she was confident of getting her settlement as lawyers acting for her could target Dr Juffali’s London assets.
“Nobody is going to get money out of Saudi Arabia because nobody gets money out of Saudi Arabia,” said the source. “In all divorce cases where there are trusts, it is complicated to enforce. But in this case, we don’t think this case has been made any more difficult by his death. They are all griefstricken, but the truth is people will regroup and it will get sorted.
“There is an application to set aside the contract that has been made.”
The source said that in effect, Miss Estrada would be suing her own teenage daughter but added: “It is not a problem for the daughter. She is devoted to her mother and they are very close.” The source added: “Juffali has a lot of assets over here. There are several houses in London which makes this far less difficult than many international divorce cases.”
The divorce was one of the most acrimonious fought in the High Court in London. Dr Juffali had tried to dodge the hearings by claiming diplomatic immunity after being appointed as the permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation by St Lucia, the Caribbean island state.
The 12-year marriage collapsed in 2012 when Dr Juffali married a Lebanese television presenter 32 years his junior while still married to Miss Estrada; a union which is allowed under Islamic law.
Miss Estrada drew ridicule for her demands. She initially sought £196.5 million, including £116,000 a year for handbags, £46,000 a year for Wimbledon and Ascot tickets and £1 million a year for clothes, including £40,000 for fur coats and £83,000 for cocktail dresses
In a judgment on July 8, Mrs Justice Roberts gave Dr Juffali three weeks to pay a settlement worth just over £75 million, including a £140,000 Lamborghini.
Miss Estrada now has to wait for her award. She may have won the divorce battle, but faces another fight before she can receive the spoils.