US judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against brother of Qatari Emir

A US federal Judge this week rejected motions to
dismiss a lawsuit that accuses the brother of the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad
Al-Thani of a range of illegal acts.
The decision allows the lawsuit, which was filed by
six American contractors who worked for Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad bin Khalifa
Al-Thani and his American racing network, to proceed.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege Sheikh Khaled
murdered an Indian employee who worked as his wife’s driver, ordered the
killings of several racing industry rivals and engaged in widespread illegal
activities in and outside of the United States.
Sheikh Khaled originally tried to dodge the lawsuit
when it was originally filed in Florida in 2019. But when the lawsuit was
re-filed in Massachusetts in June 2020, naming his racing company Al Anabi
Racing USA LLC, he was forced to respond with eight lawyers filing motions for
dismissal.
In addition to Sheikh Khaled and Al Anabi Racing
USA, LLC, the lawsuit names four other defendants: Donald Greenbaum, Al Anabi
Racing Limited, Speedtech LLC, and Al Anabi Performance, LLC. Greenbaum
represents Al Anabi Racing USA LLC, and the other companies which the lawsuit
claims Sheikh Khaled owns.
Federal court judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that
the allegations and responses, more than 80 separate legal motions, were so
complicated that it was impossible to decipher, directing both sides to
consolidate their cases and asking the attorney for the plaintiffs, Rebecca
Castaneda, to refile in two weeks.
Judge Stearns wrote: “The court denies defendants
motions to dismiss without prejudice and allows defendants motions for a more
definite statement. Plaintiffs shall, by October 30, 2020, file an amended
complaint that eliminates extraneous allegations, pleads facts in a simplified
manner, and identifies which allegations are relevant to each count in language
comprehensible to a person of reasonable intelligence or the case will be
dismissed.”
In the lawsuit, the six former contractors outline
29 separate charges offering an inside look into the frightening and violent
underworld of the playboy race car driver’s life of drugs, sexual perversions,
and violence.
In the lawsuit, Castaneda asserts Sheikh Khaled
“created an environment of hostility, falsely imprisoned employees, caused
personal injury, assaulted and battered employees, inflicted emotional
distress, engaged in retaliation, and intentionally interfered in business
relationships.”
The original lawsuit included two former employees,
Matthew Pittard and Matthew Allende. But Sheikh Khaled, a big shot in the
American race car industry, avoided it being served, a requirement in American
law. His attorneys have also not responded to repeated email inquiries for a
response. The refiled lawsuit was expanded to include other contractors for
Sheikh Khaled, including Terry Hope, Robert Von Smith, Jason Mollenbrink, and
Ramez Tohme, all of them American citizens.
In addition to naming Sheikh Khaled and 16 of his
aliases, the lawsuit names 29 subsidiaries or “alter egos” of Al Anabi Racing
USA LLC and its president and CEO, Donald Greenbaum, as defendants.
he lawsuit says Sheikh Khaled ordered Hope and
Pittard to execute “eight separate murder-for-hire plots” as a condition of
their employment. Hope was told to kill the head of an American racing circuit
and his wife “to prove his loyalty.” The sheikh also ordered the killing of a
Bahraini royal family member who raced in the same competitions.
Castaneda asserted that Sheikh Khaled ordered
Allende and Pittard to murder a Moroccan woman who was a friend of the sheikh’s
wife. Castaneda said he feared the woman was feeding embarrassing information
to a Saudi national at a time when his brother, Emir Al-Thani, and Qatar were
in an international row with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries.
In February 2011 and 2012, the lawsuit alleges,
Sheikh Khaled tried to rig the outcome of the Arabian Drag Racing League’s
“Battle of the Belts Championship,” hoping to boost his company’s international
rankings.