Charlie Smith
BRITISH oil tycoon Shoja ‘Sacha’ Shojai, who is accused of abusing a harem of lovers, is to be tried in absentia, a Spanish court has said.
The 62-year-old multimillionaire is alleged to have presided over a campaign of abuse in which he ‘kicked and slapped’ women and ‘strongly grabbed them by the neck’.
He faces several charges, including ‘mistreatment and injuries’.
The Prosecutor’s Office called for Shojai to be sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison for his alleged domestic violence against five women he lived with in Marbella.
He is also said to have been in relationships and fathered children with the women, whom he met in London and Spain.
The Criminal Court number 14 of Malaga, which announced the ‘in absentia’ development, was forced to suspend the trial last year.
Judicial sources said that the court had put out a ‘search and capture’ order for Shojai after he failed to show up at court.
It was thought that the Brit, who has Irani heritage, had fled from his Marbella Arab-style mansion to London.
He has consistently denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
Before going AWOL, Shojai told the Olive Press that he was the victim of a ‘set-up’ to ransack his ‘palace’, which he rented for €7,000 a month.
He labelled the women’s claims ‘crazy lies’, claiming they were a ploy to steal millions of euros worth of his belongings while he was temporarily behind bars.
Shojai feared the theft of his 50 Persian rugs, four French tapestries, 10 statues, 300 items of gold and diamonds, €15,000 in cash, televisions and various pieces of art.
In an exclusive interview with the Olive Press he told how he was forced to shell out €5,000 for the storage of his treasures while he was in custody.
On his release, he claimed that getting his belongings back home had required 15 men, two lorry trips and even police supervision.
He said: “It is incredible how they boxed up and loaded all of this stuff in just one day, when it usually takes me a month to move house.
“I just cannot believe it, everything was taken, even my cups, my towels, all of my books. Everything.”
Among Shojai’s alleged victims are his Danish ex-wife, 39, who is the mother to two of his children.
He was also accused of abusing a Kazakhstani woman, aged 21, who aborted his child, as well as a Turkmenistani student he met in London when she was 20 and who he also had a child with.
A Malaga Prosecutor’s Office statement had stated: “The accused maintained a relationship of domination, submission and mentoring towards all of them during their time in Spain, depriving them of money, forcing them into non-desired sexual practices and making them taking oral contraceptives or the morning after pill as well as antibiotics and other substances to relax them.
“He also forced them to watch violent films in front of their young children, imposing conditions on them which included not speaking only smiling and making sure they were always smiling in social gatherings and not crying or showing their emotions.”
A probe by Marbella’s Court Number Two was also looking into allegations that the date rape drug Rohypnol had been found at his house.
Although denying abuse, Shojai did not deny that he slept with some of the women.
In 2014 he said: “I have been completely framed. It was all arranged by one of the girls.
“She knew that all they had to do was say I had beaten and raped them and I would be locked up in Spain.
“Hence one day I was suddenly arrested and accused of family violence and beating people up.
“It meant being dragged straight to the police station where I was held for 48 hours.”
The garish property inside Shojai’s palm tree-lined estate, where he is said to have kept women against their will, sported an indoor pool, a ballroom and at one time had a small zoo and a tennis court.
Back in 2012, the Olive Press gained exclusive access to this Marbella ‘lair’ at the invitation of the notorious expat, the late David ‘the Dogman’ Klein.Shojai was described as a ‘very dear’ friend of the shady Rolls-Royce-driving trickster, who was a columnist for the Euro Weekly News.
