Kuwaiti celebrity Halema Boland threatens to sue after being tricked by Dh2.9 million gift

Video footage embroils self-proclaimed 'Miss Arab Journalist' in social media storm

Kuwaiti television host Halema Boland arrives for the 16th annual Murex d'Or awards ceremony held in Jounieh, north of Beirut on May 28, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / ANWAR AMRO
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Three men were arrested in Saudi Arabia after they tricked a Kuwaiti celebrity into thinking that she had been given a Dh2.9 million gift box of perfumes from "official sources", the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The episode caused a stir on social media after a video of Halima Boland, a Kuwaiti TV host, emerged in which she was seen receiving the box of Abdul Samad Al Quraishi perfumes, a famous perfume brand in the GCC. It was supposedly worth 3 million Saudi riyals.

In a video on her Snapchat account, which she uploaded but has since deleted, Ms Boland is heard speaking to a Saudi man off-camera who tells her “we don’t want to tell you the value of the gift, but it's 3 million riyals”.

The box is opened by two other men, exposing a golden placard. Written on it is: “Halima Abdul Jaleel Boland, the most beautiful women in the world are under her feet”.

In the box, there were 18 bottles from Abdul Samad Al Quraishi perfumery.

In a statement carried by the state news agency, the Saudi man, along with his Lebanese and Indian companions, tricked Ms Boland into believing it was sent to her by “official sources”.

There has been no official statement yet on what the motive of the three men was in presenting the gift. But authorities have arrested the three on charges of forgery and counterfeiting official documents.

The video has since caused a stir on social media, prompting Ms Boland to tweet on Wednesday night before turning her account private on Thursday.

"I will sue those who have abused me and tried to sully my reputation, through my legal representatives to, anyone who has spread rumours about me, in Kuwait and abroad. Those who weren't raised by their parents will be disciplined by the law," she said in the tweet below.

The perfumery has issued a statement denying they were involved in the gift presented to Ms Boland and stating that they hadn’t sent any gifts to her.

They later issued a statement on their Twitter account commending the Saudi police's efforts in capturing the three suspects.

They have since been arrested in Riyadh and sent to the prosecutor’s office for trial.

However, the authority’s actions have not stopped comments on social media that criticised Boland. Some of her critics expressed upset at the note that came with the gift on the placard, saying that it insulted all other women both in Saudi Arabia and abroad.

The drama is the latest to erupt in the Middle East's social media world. In July, Kuwaiti beauty blogger Sondos Al Qattan caused global uproar by posting a video of her views on Filipino workers in Kuwait.

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