The fake Saudi prince with diplomatic plates and an $8 million con
A fabricated Saudi royal identity, false diplomatic credentials and promises of exclusive investments brought Anthony Gignac millions of dollars and an 18-year, eight-month prison sentence.
Key facts
- Defendant
- Anthony GignacSource 1
- Location
- Miami and South Florida; investors internationallySource 1
- Federal case
- 17-CR-20891, Southern District of FloridaSource 1
- Sentence imposed
- 224 months on May 31, 2019Source 1
- Conviction
- Guilty pleas to diplomat/official impersonation, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and wire-fraud conspiracySource 1
The royal persona
Anthony Gignac presented himself as Saudi prince Khalid Bin Al-Saud and turned that invented identity into a business proposition. The performance reached beyond an impressive name. A 2018 Justice Department account describes a Ferrari carrying diplomatic plates, a Fisher Island residence with a royal nameplate and claims that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
When he tried to buy a Miami hotel in 2017, he stayed there using a credit card belonging to a member of the real Saudi royal family, without that person's permission. Expensive paintings and jewelry were given to him because people accepted his false credentials.
The investments behind the performance
Gignac and a co-conspirator operated Marden Williams International LLC. They promoted supposed access to international opportunities, including hotels, a casino in Malta, a pharmaceutical business in Ireland and a stake in Saudi Aramco. The Justice Department says investors from five countries sent close to $8 million.
That money did not go into legitimate, income-producing investments. It supported luxury vehicles, designer goods, yachts, private flights and a Fisher Island property.
The royal alias had appeared before
An earlier federal court record shows the same persona being used in retail stores and at a bank. In the Michigan case reviewed by the Sixth Circuit, Gignac obtained a real royal family member's Saks Fifth Avenue account number and charged about $11,300 in merchandise. At Neiman Marcus, the court described $17,691 in purchases, a threatened cancellation of an imaginary large order and a staged call supposedly from the Saudi embassy.
He later pressured a Citibank employee to let him withdraw $3.9 million from a nonexistent account. He pleaded guilty to diplomat impersonation and attempted bank fraud in 2006. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the earlier conviction and sentence on November 18, 2008. That was a separate prosecution from the Florida investment case.
The investigation reached the airport
The Diplomatic Security Service's own case account says its Miami office received a tip in August 2017 about the renewed prince persona and the hotel purchase attempt. Investigators developed evidence of a scheme stretching across several countries.
Working with Customs and Border Protection, DSS agents arrested Gignac at John F. Kennedy Airport on November 19, 2017. He had arrived from London using another person's passport. Other agents searched his Fisher Island residence, followed by consensual searches of storage units and safe-deposit boxes. They found cash, jewelry, artwork and false diplomatic credentials, including a fake DSS badge used by his bodyguard.
The plea and the prison sentence
The proceedings were not a straight line from arrest to judgment. DSS reports that Gignac entered a guilty plea in May 2018, then withdrew it in August. A superseding indictment followed in January 2019.
The final sentencing release reports guilty pleas to impersonating a foreign diplomat or government official, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On May 31, 2019, Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga imposed 224 months in prison, equivalent to 18 years and eight months.
Why it is extraordinary and what the records establish
The unusual feature is the scale of the performed identity: cars, credentials, hospitality and business dealings were organized around a fabricated royal connection. The earlier appellate record also shows that the alias was part of a recurring pattern rather than an isolated false introduction.
The sentencing release describes another layer of the deception: an Instagram account presenting Saudi royals as family, and forged documents supposedly confirming Gignac’s status and Saudi Aramco stake. These were financial claims as well as theatrical props. The false royal connection was used to promise investors access to exclusive deals, while their money financed his lifestyle rather than legitimate investments.
Case timeline
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a separate Michigan conviction and sentence involving the royal alias.
Source 4DSS arrested Gignac at JFK Airport.
Source 3DSS reports that Gignac withdrew his earlier guilty plea.
Source 3DSS reports testimony securing an 18-count superseding indictment.
Source 3The Florida court imposed 224 months in prison.
Source 1
Sources & case status
Historical sentence verified from the May 31, 2019 DOJ release. Current custody has not been verified. The 2008 appeal concerns an earlier Michigan prosecution.
- South Florida Resident Sentenced to More than Eighteen Years in Prison for Impersonating a Member of the Saudi Royal Family in Order to Swindle Millions from InvestorsU.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida · May 31, 2019
- South Florida Resident Pleads Guilty to Impersonating a Member of the Saudi Royal FamilyU.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida · May 29, 2018
- Diplomatic Security Service arrests lifetime conman for the second timeU.S. Department of State, DSS Public Affairs · May 31, 2019
- Sixth Circuit: United States v. Gignac, No. 07-1520United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · November 18, 2008Original judicial text reproduced by Justia.
This feature describes the cited historical record. It is not a live custody or court-docket service.