What's the Story of Zaharaf?

One version of his background suggests that as an adolescent, he made his way over to England and attended a mid-level British boarding school. The other more legendary version of this guy's life story is that when he was an adolescent, his family fell on hard times and he was forced to take the streets of Constantinople to hustle his way to get enough money to pay for an education. These rumors will claim that he worked as a brothel tout. I think it was an inspiration for Todd Phillips.