Even the coptics get to swindle

This is a true story on another kind of con that goes on here in Egypt, Ok for the millionaires who need tax evasion, but they do not get caught in this kind of swindle.
On the 24/7/2010 The Sheik Mohamed Tayeb put an end to the swindle case,
so here I was in a taxi 2.00 in the morning with a a lawyer I did not like but as needs must I had
to have a lawyer with me to sign forms Etc, the guys name was Moshin a Coptic and a cause for a bit of trust, only to find out 2 days later, this guy is worse than the crooks he reprisents and should be in Jail
he is another cause of corruption here in Luxor, A money talks Lawyer, especially
police bribery,but I was stuck with my Translator" Emat's" Lawyer or so he told me
when I told him of my dilemma as my Lawyer was out of town I need a lawyer in 2 hours,
first he told me. you need a good lawyer make sure the papers are what they say, he spoke good English and he is like a fox. and he has his own car to take you to see the Sheik.
the only truth that was told was the fox bit, should have said he was a snake.
anyway the deal was over and I was to get my money back from the
swindler (cannot name the bastard or he will have reason to stop payments) and his Lawyer, Take it or get nothing blackmail was the order of the day ( they had put another 3 assault charges in that day and said if I do not do the deal I was looking at 3 years in Jail or 20 years fighting the case again )
On our way back Emat who had to be with us because the Snake lawyer could not speak
a word of English unless it was about money.
How about you rent the Teba Star,
I knew there was something brewing between Moshin and Emat the word feluse (money$£)came up all the time in the conversations as we where travelling back to Luxor,
they also thought I know nothing in the Arabic language, and that's the way I like it,

So here we were passing the Teba Star.Disco floating Restaurant,
This is an old cruise boat that was converted rather shabbily and hasty into a floating restaurant
back in the 90s. and is or was one of the smaller passenger vessels on the Nile.

Play the game Tony!
How much to rent this I asked. .. to which there was no answer,
So I said if you do not know then how I say maybe I have an interest. then all of a sudden
Moshin can speak English broken but he spoke my native tongue.
And Just as suddenly I said, forget it, but it will be such a good deal for you,
you rent the boat Yes? maybe I will go see it tomorrow, on leaving the taxi outside my home ,
If you need my service again . call me I will be here until 27. I go to Alexandria.
as he took my thousand pound egp. fee for doing Nothing. as the deal was one thousand
and I am not a Squelchier, I stand by my deals,

Emat got out of the Taxi when he saw I was heading for a much needed sisha and coffee,
and He said I see you tomorrow? even though it was already tomorrow, 2.30 in the morning is another day,
Emat had already talked to my Lawyer Shaib. and he made arrangements for 9.00 to see him.
as he wanted to make the court arrangements for the signing of the papers, to Release mohamed Awad
from the swindle charges.
6 hours later as I was going to see my lawyer who did I see and more to the point who was waiting
for me bright eyed and bushy tailed but the little fox Emat,
I just come from the Tiba Star, it will be such a good deal for you to rent looks very nice Inside,
Will not say what I said but it started with an f. Here I was sleep in my eyes with the bed marks
still on my back being asked to make a deal. see you later I said As I went to see my lawyer,
no sign of My lawyer Mr Shaib so I waited for half an hour before phoning him,
Egyptian time You know what's its like here, on phoning Shaib not in luxor today. we meet at 9.00 tonight
and we have court at 11.00 tomorrow morning. ,, why you tell emat 9.00 today.
I was already angry with my lawyer after three years he could not come with me to see the sheik,
could not close office for one evening.
get another lawyer he said, and look who I got I had no time to vet a new lawyer, so was at the mercy of the sharks,
but no he said I tell Emat 9.00 the same time as always to come to my office.
So now I know why the fox was waiting for me I had to pass the coffee shop to get to Shaibs office.
and here was this angry Welshman walking back to the coffee shop to give the fox some buckshot up his rear.
when I got to the coffee shop I was told Emat wait in the Internet as he pointed to the sign Lotus Internet.
two days before I was sitting in the coffee shop with Emat and his Pal Milad Another Tour Guide, Just like Emat I am not sure whether they are in one company, one of the things that came up was the way the English speakers have all manner of women they skype, all the I love you miss you so much and that nonsense,
cannot believe how many women get caught up with these guys. he said. while in the net cafe showing Milad how to make a blog . I noticed he had a whole list of people on his skype list. business he said,
and of course the first thing I thought of was monkey business. anyway i thought better of the idea of making this Milad a blog , I do not like being used especially for there gain. and I am sure he knows how to make a blog he had a website not a good one what happens is this Egyptians living and have a bank visa card cannot buy web sites, there has been so many cons here with cards they put a stop to any purchasing on the Internet IE. my Egyptian visa cards I can go to any atm worldwide and draw money out, if There is money in . but I cannot pay my website accounts, my wife pays with our account in England,
what the Egyptians tried was to purchase off the Internet after the purchase, take all the money out of the bank. and a week later put it back in. this I was told by the bank manager as to why I cannot pay my bills on the net.
so these people get caught up with web masters here on hols. oh yes I can make you a website
no problem whats your name? Milad great!!! miladtours.com hows that cost you 1200egp. 1hour later the site is made, no prices or anything but greedy Milad has a website. the webmaster is back in his own country after leaving a none existent E- mail address. so now the guy wants me to update his site . how do I do that I need the passwords I need to know the host. and of Course I need to get away from this milad tour guide.
I give him a load of web jargon he does not have a clue what I am on about And I say you wanted a free blog , If you want a website I can make one with you but do you have money first.
but you are Friend . not I am not and I left.
Sunday night after seeing my lawyer I called in the net cafe because I saw Emat going in. First I had a coffee in the cafe next door. then decided to confront this little fox after finding out he and his Lawyer Moshin sold me out the night before. where was the fox, on skype, had some English grandmother rubbing her tits on the screen. . very nice too I said too Emat. Hi granny those real , as emat hurriedly switched off. Just a bit of fun he said. as he rushed out of the cafe to follow me.
You think about the Tiba Star? no why? such a good deal they give me for you. and what is this deal.
Problem is with these Pratt's is! if a question is asked they get all excited thinking there is a deal on.
so out comes all the planning he and Moshin have thought up. you hire the boat, you make it work then hire it out to a company, you will make lots of money!!!! Ok so if its such a good deal why do you need me,

on the 1st of August, I decided as I had nothing to do I would go for a walk and take a look at this fantastic Nile boat Restaurant, First thing as I entered the compound the gates where lock, with two police sitting outside not guarding the compound they are always there supposed to be a police presence wherever tourist walk, and here it was the last steps that get people on the walk to the cruise boats or the beer and food outlets on the Nile, so I asked the cop if its open not now. maybe he come in one hour, Just as I was walking away the cop shouted to come back. the boat guard had arrived, and unlocked the gate,
This guy spoke rather good English, Late turning up for work I said, No not really I usually come in at 11.30. new time I said. remembering Emat said he went on board between 7.00 and 8.00,
No no need for any body to be here the tiba has been standing here for almost 3 years since the engine stopped. what do you mean stopped? capput new engine cost a lot of money. what else I asked seeing the guy had no interest in selling me the boat. what you do Here he asked . had to come up with a feasible story now, and said!! long time ago I came on this boat and had a meal as we floated up the Nile just thought I would take some photos of it that's all. I gave him 10 egp . help yourself not all rooms open he said,

The boat is actually still floating I thought no engine to drive the bilge pumps. wrong As I boarded the boat I could feel the vibration of an electric pump. then started to inspect the hull that was full of rust painted over a few times but the rust was clearly visible above the waterline of the hull,

.

I will go into costing on valuation of this rust bucket Later.

as I entered the foyer or first room on the boat A smell of what I can only describe as fungi growing in materials. stale nicotine smoke filled my nostrils. everything had a thick layer of dust covering it,And this was the only room that was open

.

two toilets and a glass door (locked) that entered a smallish what would have been the disco and dining area.

,

and went to look for the main dining room first I went on the top deck Most of the tiles in the pool need replacing the deck had a layer of spongy material or rather rotted contyboard that needed replacing and afraid of going through the board to the lower deck I refrained from walking on this deck.

to the end of this deck one looked down on what one might call the open dining area of the boat,

seen enough i thought as I tripped over the thread bare carpets that seemed to adorn the rest of the decks I could see without forcing doors open I would have liked to see the kitchen area but that was locked with steel grid on the doors, the same kind of grid as to the external crew deck

.

and from what I could see on my curiosity tour of the Tiba Star floating disco and restaurant

the only thing that did not need replacing or renewing was this picture of an old Sandal boat,

These boats today have been turned into small cruise boats 8/ 12 people.

That can be rented for a trip down the Nile from Esna to Aswan.

These boats where built to haul sand and stone from the Quarries near Aswan up the nile as far as Alexandria.

But Like the felluca sail boat. can only sail on the Nile and where built just to sail on the Niles calm water.

( not sea worthy)

.

Now lets go into the pro's and cons of hiring the tiba Star, con being the opperative word .

First the boat has a berth right and has done for the past twenty or so years,

over the next 3 years the Promenade is due to be lowered by 3 meters, all the cruise ships/boats are being moved to new berths down river 3 kilometres from here. all fuel sewage and any other pipes feed the boats will be taken up so there will be no service pipes for the tiba and there fore will loose its mooring (berth rights) the boat its Ie hull and structure needs renewing ( will have to be taken to a dry dock, and while its there the whole of the interior will need refurbishing. total cost would be in excess of one million sterling.

A boat that caught fire here same size as the tiba cost the insurance 2.5 million to refurbish. now the insurance companies do not accept claims on boats over 30 years old so the tiba is not worth a secret arson,

Now I have spent a million on my new Tiba Star, how do I get my investment back.

Simple I can not, even if I ran the boat myself,

I need ( talking sterling) 1000 for the health and safety inspection each year,

A pilot or as they are called here a Captain fully qualified in the running channels of the Nile.

1000 per month,

a crew who will act as cleaners waiters porters etc. for the daily running of the boat

that can be anywhere from 2000/4000 per month.

will need 5 chefs cost another 2000/4000 per month,

then I will need at least 50 person per dining cruise.

I could fill the boat every trip if I use the tour companies

problem there is I would only get 30% of the money a tourist pays for the diner/cruise/

so that means if Iwas to get my money back charging the tourist 250£ per trip it would take me forever to see any profit.

and as the little fox said I could hire my investment out,

I could if I wanted Hire a fully functional Nile area cafe /restaurant for 6000 per month.

so why would one hire my investment for more.6000 divide into one million, as I say I would never see any interest on my investment,

So to you Mr Emat the fox and Moshin the snake lawyer find some one else to make a deal with

and you had better hurry before they move the boat or it sinks to the bottom of the Nile.