- The Associated Press
Tips left by Dubai sheikh being returned
October 09, 2007
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Thousands of dollars in tips left for airport security guards in Lexington by the ruling family of Dubai are being returned because of a ban on gratuities for the employees.
Lexington attorney William T. Bishop III picked up the money on Monday, but said he's unsure where to send it.
"I haven't been directed as to what to do with it. I know it's not mine," said Bishop, who is general counsel for Keeneland Race Course and who also has handled legal matters for Central Kentucky horse farms owned by the Maktoum family of Dubai.
Bishop declined to name the client or clients for whom he accepted the money.
"They consider that confidential," he said.
Crown prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum left at least $8,000 in gratuities for airport officials who provided security for United Arab Emirates airplanes while they were in central Kentucky last month.
The money was contained in three envelopes, but there are more than seven other envelopes that remain unopened.
Officers can't keep the money because it could violate state law and lead to fines, jail time and removal from office, Lovely said.
Airport board chairman Bernie Lovely said the Maktoums requested that the tips be returned to them after they learned that the officers who guarded their planes could not accept the money left for them.
Blue Grass Airport public safety officers, working mandatory overtime, guarded a 747 used in a visit to the area by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum in early September.
© The Associated Press
