Brit arrested in Marbella for renting ‘stolen’ £300,000 Lamborghini Aventador to a Saudi prince during royal visit to Spain
Officers held the man after the wealthy Arab named him as the person he had rented the car from when they stopped the luxury vehicle at a police checkpoint
A BRIT has been arrested after Spanish police stopped a member of the Saudi Royal family in a £300,000 Lamborghini which was reported as stolen.
Officers held the man after the wealthy Arab named him as the person he had rented the car from when they stopped the luxury vehicle at a police checkpoint in the upmarket resort of Puerto Banus.
They discovered the car, a Lamborghini Aventador which can do 0-60 in under three seconds, had been reported as stolen by a London-based German who was on holiday in Marbella and spotted a vehicle he identified as his being driven through the resort.
Marbella-based police had loaded the information onto their database even though they didn’t have access to the crime report the unnamed German said he had lodged with British officers.
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The Saudi royal showed officers a valid international driving licence and the rental contract but was not able to produce any vehicle documents.
The 31-year-old director of the agency who rented him the car, an Indian-born Brit with homes in Westminster, London and on an upmarket estate near Puerto Banus, was summonsed to the scene.
He was arrested after handing over paperwork which didn’t match the vehicle.
Local reports said the car had British number plates they later discovered were fake and the documents corresponded to a temporary German plate which had run out nearly a month earlier.
The Brit, listed as the current sales director of a bespoke luxury car sales firm in London, was arrested on suspicion of falsifying documents.
He is believed to have been released on bail pending an ongoing probe to confirm whether the car was stolen in the UK and determine how it was taken and ended up in Spain.
British police are likely to be contacted as part of the investigation which is being coordinated by a court in Marbella.
The 31-year-old Saudi at the wheel of the Lamborghini, which has been impounded by police, has been named locally only by his surname - Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
He is said to be an extended member of the Saudi Royal Family who have long had a love affair with Marbella and its glitzy neighbour Puerto Banus.
It is not known how he got home after being stopped in Puerto Banus and deprived of his luxury rental car, around 2.30am on Wednesday.
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the King of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to his death of 2015.
He ascended to the throne after the death of his half-brother King Fahd.
A source close to the investigation said no charges would be brought against the wealthy Saudi at the wheel of the Lamborghini as he had acted in “good faith” and was an innocent victim.
The Lamborghini Aventador has a top speed of 217mph and can do 0-62 in 2.9 seconds.