Prince Andrew is tied up in another murky legal case, besides the sexual assault claim(s), and this time his daughters have been dragged in with him.
This lawsuit was brought forth by Turkish millionaire Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, against her financial advisor, Selman Turk. The heiress claims Turk essentially stole the money she entrusted him with and split it up. He apparently made payments to Prince Andrew totaling more than 1 million pounds, with additional large sums granted to his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie. Whoa!
Isbilen says she thought her money was going towards the Duke of York’s assistance with obtaining a new passport. Her husband is serving a life sentence for his alleged role in a 2016 coup against Erdogan, Turkey’s autocratic President, and she’s trying to move her money out of the country safely. So she got Turk to help her move £67 million.
Instead, Turk allegedly stole the money. It was later revealed that the so-called financial adviser gave some of the money to the Duke of York in the guise of a “wedding gift” for his daughter Princess Beatrice, who got married in a small ceremony in the Summer of 2020. An additional £25,000 was also sent straight to Eugenie and £225,000 to Fergie. One million pounds total, floated to Andrew by this Turk character — with no strings attached?
Well, Turk may have been involved in shadier things than embezzlement. According to reports, he met Prince Andrew through their mutual friend Tarek Kaituni — a convicted gun smuggler. Huh. First sex traffickers now gun smugglers… Why is Andrew friends with so many shady characters??
A representative for the embattled prince told People that “they are unable to comment on an ongoing legal case.” However, his daughter Eugenie gave a lengthy statement to the outlet explaining her involvement. It read:
“On 31 March 2022 I received a letter from solicitors Peters & Peters representing their client Nebahat Evyap Isbilen in her claim against a Mr Selman Turk, and various companies. I know neither Mrs Isbilen nor Mr Turk (nor any other details of the claim) and I was surprised to receive this letter, which asked me to explain two payments made to my bank account in October 2019, which I understood to be gifts from a long-standing family friend to assist with the cost of a surprise party for my mother, Sarah, Duchess of York’s sixtieth birthday.”
She thought someone was just tossing her 25k for a birthday party? Seems like a pretty wild assumption, but that’s who these people are, we guess?
The statement went on:
“In early October 2019 I had received a call from our family friend saying that he wanted to make a financial contribution towards my mother’s birthday party to assist with the catering costs. I suggested that any contribution could be made directly to the caterers, but in the event provided my account details to which two payments were made totalling £25,000, which I then transferred on to the company organising my mother’s party. I am now consulting with my lawyers who I have asked to respond to Peters & Peters on my behalf to assist in their inquiries.”
Meanwhile, a representative for Fergie claimed that Turk offered to pay her for her work as a brand ambassador for the company Pegasus. The green energy organization offered to pay the Duchess’s fee in installments, but Turk stepped in to pay the full sum upfront and took on the debt from the company. A source close to the 62-year-old said “she believed him to be a fit and proper person to deal with at the time.” In a statement, her reps claimed:
“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.”
To make matters more complicated, Turk was awarded the “People’s Choice” award at Andrew’s Shark Tank-style “” competition for entrepreneurs back in 2019. According to The Guardian, concerns were raised almost immediately after the event that Turk’s win may have been rigged.
The businessman later admitted to meeting with the prince on multiple occasions before the competition took place — and that £750,000 payment was made just days after he won. However, Turk claimed that he did not instruct Isbilen to make the payment, and that she did so of her own accord, per The Guardian.
Has that defense ever worked for a con artist??
Andrew reportedly returned £750,000 after being contacted by Isbilen’s lawyers in March 2021. But there’s still a quarter of a million pounds unaccounted for, right?
Seems like a very thorny issue, but one thing’s for sure: Andrew is hopping from scandal to scandal these days. We doubted he would be able to return to public life before this, but we imagine this only reinforces the Royal Family’s decision to exile him… We wonder what else we’ll find out — and what his daughters really knew about the money!
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