TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Friday, Oct 11, 2024

More details emerge of Prince Andrew’s alleged links with banker Selman Turk

More details emerge of Prince Andrew’s alleged links with banker Selman Turk

Duke met man accused of fraud in high court months before receiving disputed payments, report claims

Prince Andrew had known an alleged fraudster for at least six months before receiving more than £1m in disputed payments from the man, it has been reported.

The Duke of York was introduced to Selman Turk via a mutual contact, Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, in May or June 2019 at Windsor Castle, and held subsequent meetings, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Turk received an award from Andrew at a Pitch@Palace event – a Dragons’ Den-style project for entrepreneurs created by the duke – in November 2019.


Nine days after the event, Andrew received £750,000 from Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire and wife of a former leading politician, who is now taking Turk to the high court in London, alleging that he defrauded her out of nearly £40m.

She alleges that Turk told her to make the payment to Andrew in return for assistance with a passport application.

The prince, who has declined to comment on the reports, repaid the sum about 16 months after he received it, once Isbilen’s lawyers contacted him.

It is through these legal proceedings that Andrew’s connection with Turk was revealed, including further payments of £350,000 received from Alphabet Capital, which lawyers have told the court was “a fraudulent and covert front” to make payments to those “associated” with Turk.

Andrew’s reported introduction to Turk in May or June 2019 is another piece of the puzzle of the latest controversy to embroil him. It still remains unclear as to whether he was aware of the money entering his personal bank account or what it was for.

Selman Turk.


His spokesperson declined to comment on the most recent reports.

Kaituni is reported to have first introduced Andrew to Turk at a birthday celebration at Windsor Castle sometime between May and June in 2019.

Turk and Kaituni subsequently met Andrew in London on at least two occasions, including at a dinner with potential investors at Turk’s apartment in South Kensington on 5 December 2019, the Telegraph said, citing sources.

Turk later shared pictures of him and Kaituni inside what is believed to be Frogmore House, the royal residence in Windsor Great Park, during a visit in February 2020.

The Guardian has been unable to verify the claims.

Another court document, dated April 2021, says Turk disputes Isbilen’s allegations: “He disagrees with her portrayal of the facts, including as to her understanding of the various dealings with her assets. He states that much of what has happened is the result of Mrs Isbilen’s status as a politically exposed person and the consequential difficulty in dealing with her assets.”

Andrew’s connections with Kaituni, whom he is said to have first met in 2005, have been widely reported.

Kaituni, who was convicted of attempting to smuggle a submachine gun from Holland to France in 2005, is reported to have facilitated meetings between Andrew and the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

He was reported to have given Andrew’s eldest daughter, Beatrice, an £18,000 gold and diamond necklace after the prince invited him to her 21st birthday party in Spain in August 2009, months before Andrew allegedly lobbied a British company on his behalf.

Kaituni is also reported to have attended the wedding of Andrew’s youngest daughter, Eugenie, in 2018.

It emerged on Saturday that one of the duke’s senior aides had told bankers that the £750,000 payment from Isbilen was for Beatrice’s wedding. The Daily Mail obtained a transcript of a phone call on 14 November 2019 between Andrew’s former aide Amanda Thirsk and bankers acting for Isbilen.

In the call, the bankers queried the purpose of the £750,000 transfer from Isbilen’s account to the duke’s personal account at Coutts, and Thirsk, who was a senior member of the royal household at the time but no longer works there, said: “It’s a gift for the wedding, a wedding gift.”

The duke’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and Eugenie are also named in court documents related to Isbilen’s case against Turk. It is said Ferguson received £225,000 and Eugenie £25,000.

Ferguson’s case is that she received the funds from Turk’s business after he took on a debt owed to her by Pegasus, a solar power company, which owed her payment for her role as ambassador for the firm.

Her spokesperson said: “The duchess was completely unaware of the allegations that have since emerged against Mr Turk. She is naturally concerned by what has been alleged against him.”

Eugenie told the Sunday Telegraph: “I know neither Mrs Isbilen nor Mr Turk.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×