Prince Andrew ‘received £1 million’ from ‘fraudster’ embroiled in High Court battle over missing cash
PRINCE Andrew is embroiled in an extraordinary High Court case amid claims he was given £1million by an alleged conman accused of swindling a Turkish millionairess out of her £40m fortune.
The Duke of York and his former wife Sarah Ferguson received "suspicious" payments on the orders of Selman Turk, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as part of a £40m international fraud, it is alleged.
Court papers say the payments included a £750,000 "gift" to Andy from Nebahat Isbilen.
The 76-year-old was allegedly told the sum would pay for help with a passport so she could flee political persecution in Turkey.
The duke was paid for the first time days after he presented Mr Turk with an award at St James’s Palace, reports.
He was giving Mr Turk an honour as part of his controversial Dragons Den-style competition, known as Pitch@Palace.
A further £350,000 payment, linked to Mr Turk, was allegedly made to Prince Andrew through a third party account. This account also paid £225,000 to his ex-wife, it's claimed.
The Duke has repaid the £750,000, but declined to comment when approached by .
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There is no suggestion he was party to the alleged fraud.
A spokesman for the Duchess of York 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.”
Mr Turk denies the allegations.
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David Halpern QC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, granted a search of Mr Turk's premises earlier this month, saying there was a “strong prima facie case” for “a major fraud”. 'Prima facie' means 'based on a first impression'.
Court documents claim Jonathan Tickner, who works for the firm representing Mrs Isbilen, wrote to Prince Andrew in March last year.
The royal "declined" to respond to questions or give any account of his relationship with Mr Turk, it's claimed.
News of the case comes after Andrew paid sex accuser Virginia Giuffre a multi-million pound settlement to drop a civil case against him.
The Duke denies all allegations of misconduct made against him.
