Why was row between Italian actor and Syrian hotel tycoon over Ferrari decided in Scotland?

A row between an Italian actor and a Syrian hotel tycoon over who owned a Ferrari was decided in a court in Scotland.

A six-year battle between Gianni Calchetti and Imad Elias over who owned a 1985 red 328 GTS was brought to a conclusion at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last month.

Calchetti, 57, played a role in the 2025 F1 movie starring Brad Pitt and has bit-part credits in the Star Wars series Andor and the movie Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet.

Elias was previously CEO of Roda Hotels & Resorts and founded a hotel consultancy business in Dubai that operated from 2013 to 2015.

In July 2006, Calchetti bought the Ferrari.

In April 2011, the actor agreed to sell the car to Elias for £25,000 and personally delivered it to him at his holiday home in Spain.

The court found the pair agreed the car would remain registered in Calchetti’s name in Italy.

The Ferrari remained in Elias’ possession until he agreed to sell it in Manchester in October 2020.

The previous month, Calchetti reported the vehicle as stolen to Police Scotland after filing a similar report to the Italian Carabinieri in August 2020.

The pair had become friends at the Ferrari Owners Club in Dubai before striking the deal. Calchetti then worked for the hotelier in his food business from May 2011 to May 2016.

However, the pair fell out in 2015 before Elias retired to Largs with his British wife in 2020. Calchetti claimed he had only loaned Elias the vehicle and wanted it back.

In 2022, Police Scotland referred the ownership battle to the courts after the car was seized.

In a written judgment, Sheriff George Jamieson said Calchetti “often engaged in long, rambling answers, and on occasions gave absurd if not impossible answers” when giving evidence to the court.

The sheriff also noted evidence from Elias’ wife, Susan, who claimed her husband had no need to borrow a car because he had “lots of Ferraris and other cars in Dubai and elsewhere”.

Sheriff Jamieson ruled it belonged to Elias as there was no requirement for the sale in 2011 to be in writing.

He added: “The Sale of Goods Act 1979 permits a contract for the sale of a vehicle to be made by word of mouth, or partly in writing and partly by word of mouth.”