14 DAY TRIAL // Spanish police has arrested a British millionaire who allegedly fathered at least seven children with a harem of aspiring models he held against their will in a Costa del Sol mansion.
Reports say that police was called to Shoja Shojai's sumptuous palace in Marbella after one of the women filed a domestic violence compliant against the man. When officers arrived at the property, they found a group of young women, mostly in their 20s, many of whom made allegations that they were deceived by the millionaire.
Nine of them claimed they were lured to Spain by the 56-year-old man with false promises he would help them break into the fashion industry, but when they arrived in the country they were kept at his rented mansion against their will and subjected to physical and emotional abuse.
“It makes me shudder to think they might have been kept there against their will and no one did anything. There were always a lot of pretty women coming and going but I just thought there were several different families living inside the house,” a neighbor said after the news of the arrest broke.
According to Daily Mail, Shojai met most of the women, who came from different eastern countries like Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, at a London fashion school and told them he was an oil tycoon who was friend with Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.
The women told officers they were held in a 10-bedroom mansion called Casa Saf, on the luxury property located in the hills above Marbella, and took turns to sleep with the millionaire, whom they knew as “Sasha.” They also mentioned they were allowed out of the mansion, but only accompanied by one of Shojai's employees and on the condition that they told him where they were at any time.
It is understood that some of the women, who came from wealthy families, were even made to pay the £6,500 ($10,980/€7,960) a month rent on the villa.
Moreover, a judge ordered the women to have medical tests after they complained of suffering headaches and being forced to take drugs, including anti-depressants. Apparently, police also found date-rape drug Rohypnol during a search of the property.
The women and their children, aged between nine months and seven years, have been taken to nearby refuges.
During a police interview, Mr. Shojai denied all the claims and allegations against him, saying that the women worked for his companies and they all consented to sex with him. He has been released on bail until the investigation is over. A court in Marbella will then decide whether to charge him or not.