Grandmother, 61, must pay £40,000 to the Egyptian toyboy half her age who wooed her with free camel rides before their relationship soured
- Marilyn Lewis fell in love with Egyptian man Amr Elasar, 22, while on holiday
- Ignored family warnings and married in Cairo in 2009 after he wooed her
- Brought Amr to the UK and showered him in gifts including cars and loans
- But relations quickly soured and Amr was found on ‘cougar’ dating websites looking for other women
- Ms Lewis now owes him £40,000 in a divorce settlement after not completing a pre-nup properly
A grandmother has spoken of her ‘outrage’ at being forced to pay her former Egyptian toy-boy £40,000 after their romance turned sour.
Marilyn Lewis was 50 when she met £15-a-day desert tour guide Amr Elasar, 22, while on holiday at a Red Sea resort in 2008.
Charmed by free camel rides, Ms Lewis, now 61, married Amr at the British Embassy in Cairo the next year and began to shower him in gifts totalling some £30,000.
But the relationship fell apart after Amr was brought back to the UK and turned ‘moody and money-grabbing’ and went on cougar dating sites.
Marilyn Lewis was 50 when she met £15-a-day desert guide Amr Elasar, 22, while on holiday at a Red Sea resort in 2008
‘I feel sick. I’m a kind and compassionate person and it horrifies me to realise my husband was only after my cash,’ Ms Lewis told the Sunday Mirror.
‘He mentioned how lucky I was to live in the UK. I brought him here, now I’m paying the price.’
Pet sitter Marilyn, who has two daughters, aged 34 and 32, and a 21-year-old son, thought Amr was 28 when they first met and says their first meetings were some of the ‘best days of my life’.
She says that Amr initially paid for everything while she holidayed at the Red Sea and the next year in Sharm El Sheikh, but when asked for a phone she obligingly bought him one.
But after Amr moved to the UK with Ms Lewis, she says the amounts of money he would ask for became larger.
While she did insist on a pre-nup for their marriage she never had it signed by a witness – so it became void when she would later need it.
Feeling ‘insecure’ about having a much younger husband, she paid him the money to recapture ‘good times’ of her younger years, and would eventually lead to her mortgaging her Bexleyheath, South East London home.
But the relationship fell apart after Amr was brought to the UK and turned ‘moody and money-grabbing’ and went on cougar dating sites
Her daughters moved out in protest as Amr arrived, at first on a six-month visa.
But his tone changed ‘completely’ in 2010, and he demanded a second-hand Mercedes and several large loans.
Marilyn claims he was using a ‘cougar’ dating website to find other girlfriends, and that one woman in her 60s contacted her claiming to be owed £6,000 by Amr, which she mistakenly dismissed out of hand as a jealous ex.
She divorced him in 2014 after agreeing to buy the Mercedes, but found he had taken out two £3,000 loans on his own.
But last year she received the worst news – a £100,000 divorce claim.
By the time it reached court it was down to £50,000, with a final ruling by the Medway County Court to pay £40,000 to Amr who needs to ‘establish himself’ in the UK.
Still hoping to appeal this ruling, Marilyn said she is ‘staggered’ that he is ‘entitled to a penny’.
Amr, now 33, said: ‘This was a court order. They reviewed everything and I have been rewarded that sum.
‘I did not lie. I believe the courts here are very fair.’