Patrick McKillen, an Irish hotelier, was once close to Qatari royals, flying to Doha to talk shop with sheikhs on yachts and envisioning the development of their high-end properties in London, Paris and the French Riviera.
But Mr. McKillen, 70, is now suing prominent members of the family that rules Qatar, accusing them of plotting, over years, not to pay him millions of dollars for services while he worked on “ultra luxury” hotels and apartments on multiple continents. Those services included consulting on potential purchases, leading renovations and making other improvements.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court in California last week, Mr. McKillen’s lawyers accused Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Qatari emir known as H.B.K.; Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, the former prime minister known as H.B.J.; and others of perpetrating a “global scheme” to get free labor as “part of a yearslong pattern of illegal racketeering.”
“The defrauding of Mr. McKillen takes its place in line next to a laundry list of illegal acts directed and facilitated by the Qatari royals and the entities and individuals they control to grow their wealth or advance their geopolitical interests,” the lawsuit says.
Representatives for the Qataris did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A representative for a hotel group that is owned by the royal family and that is at the center of the dispute dismissed the accusations as “entirely false.”
Experts in racketeering cases say that getting the matter to trial will be an uphill battle, as is common in these kinds of claims. A plaintiff can win three times as much as any actual damages — and that is what Mr. McKillen is seeking. But he has to show a long pattern of illegal activity with great specificity.
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The post Qatari Royals Schemed to Get Free Labor for Luxury Properties, Hotelier Says appeared first on New York Times.
