Prince Andrew Urged to Be ‘Completely Clear & Honest’ Over £1M Payments Linked to Fraud Case

It was reported that Prince Andrew received over £1 million from an alleged fraudster, Selman Turk, who's been sued by a Turkish millionaire he formerly advised. The woman claims she was tricked into giving the royal money “for assistance” with her passport. After Nebahat Evyap Isbilen alleged she had been scammed, the Duke of York repaid the cash.

No sooner had the Duke of York dodged the embarrassment of facing his sex abuse accuser in court by paying off Virginia Giuffre in a settlement deal purportedly worth up to £12m, his name is once again making headlines.

Prince Andrew has been named in a High court ruling on an international fraud case and is facing calls to explain why he received an overall sum of £1 million in payments linked to Selman Turk, a financier being accused of swindling his former client, Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, reported The Guardian.

Graham Smith, campaign manager for Republic, which calls for the abolition of the monarchy, was cited as saying Prince Andrew should clarify why he thought the money linked to the alleged fraudster had been paid to him.

“Quite clearly it raises a lot of questions about what was going on, what the relationship was between this person at Pitch@Palace and Andrew,” he said, adding:

“It’s not credible he had no knowledge of it and wasn’t aware it was paid in. So why didn’t he immediately raise questions and pay it back? He needs to be completely clear and honest about exactly what was going on.”

The Millionairess & the ‘Fraudster’

The Duke of York, together with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has found himself embroiled in the legal dispute between the Turkish millionairess and the former Goldman Sachs banker.

76-year-old Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, whose husband, Ilhan Isbilen, a former deputy leader of Turkey's ruling AK Party, had been jailed in 2015 after an attempted coup, claims she was scammed out of her fortune by businessman and financial adviser Selman Turk. She is now suing the man, whose services she enlisted when she fled her homeland for the UK, in the High Court for £40 million.

In a signed affidavit seen by The Telegraph, the Turkish woman claimed she “authorised a transfer of £750,000” from her British bank account to “HRH Duke of York” after “Mr Turk told me that he received help from the Duke of York” in securing a new Turkish passport. When fleeing Turkey for London, Mrs Isbilen had purportedly left her old passport behind.

Turk is said to have informed his client that such a service from a royal “would normally be worth £2 million but it would cost less if we made the payment by way of a gift”.

“Mrs Isbilen authorised a transfer of £750,000 out of” an account held with a private bank Hampden & Co on 15 November, show documents.

Jonathan Tickner, Mrs Isbilen’s solicitor, in an affidavit submitted to the High Court, said:

“Mrs Isbilen’s evidence is that she was told the payment was to be made in connection with immigration documents. In fact, Mr Turk appeared at a charity event hosted by Prince Andrew at St James’ Palace on 5 November 2019, at which he sought to promote his UK banking business. Mrs Isbilen suspects that the payment was made for some purpose connected with the banking business.”

Britain's Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a service of thanksgiving for late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London, Britain, March 29, 2022

© REUTERS / Richard Pohle/Pool

Indeed, the duke is shown to have received the first payment a few days after Selman Turk’s digital banking company, Heyman AI, which he had founded, was the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Pitch@Palace competition at St James's Palace – an initiative set up by Prince Andrew to support entrepreneurs. The event had been attended by Mrs Isbilen. It should be noted that Heyman AI became insolvent about 18 months later.

Just nine days later, on 15 November 2019, the sum of £750,000 went into the Duke of York’s bank account, according to court documents seen by The Telegraph.

A “particulars of claim” document for the case against Selman Turk, cited by UK outlets, says the passport suggestion was a scam.

“The representation that Mrs Isbilen needed to make a gift to HRH Duke of York in connection with her passport (or for any other purpose) was false, and Mr Turk made it dishonestly, knowing it to be false and intending Mrs Isbilen to rely on it."

Further payments linked to Selman Turk were made to Prince Andrew, as well as to his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, through a third party account.

Bank disclosures show a company called Alphabet Capital Ltd had made “further transfers of up to £350,000, in regular instalments … to Prince Andrew,” stated Tickner in his affidavit.

Court papers suggest there is “strong evidence” that Alphabet Capital was a “fraudulent and covert front used by Mr Turk to make payments to persons associated with him”.

Furthermore, based on bank disclosures, “at least £225,000 was transferred to an account in the name of ‘Duchess of York’ out of the Alphabet account”. The money was transferred on 9 August 2019, three months before the Pitch@palace event.

According to cited bank records, the Duchess of York also received payments after being announced as brand ambassador for Pegasus Group Holdings, a renewable energy company, in July 2019.

The Royal ‘Wedding Gift’

In an intriguing twist to the story, the Daily Mail on Friday reported that according to seen court documents, the payment of £750,000 to the royal was described to bankers as a wedding gift for his daughter, Princess Beatrice, with his other daughter, Princess Eugenie, also allegedly paid £25,000 on the orders of Turk.

Британский принц Эндрю и его дочери, принцесса Евгения (слева) и Беатрис в Лондоне

© AP Photo / Gero Breloer

The outlet cites the transcript of a phone call to Prince Andrew’s private secretary at the time, Amanda Thirsk, from Mrs Isbilen's bank on November 14, 2019, querying the purpose of the £750,000 transfer from her account to the royal’s personal account at Coutts.

After banker Stephen Buckland had been instructed to transfer the cash from a wealthy client of Hampden & Co private bank, he purportedly sought to clarify what the “very large sum of money” was for.

Before speaking to Amanda Thirsk at Buckingham Palace, Buckland is said to have contacted Selman Turk on November 14, 2019.

“We just need to feel comfortable given the very unusual nature of the transaction,” referenced as a “wedding gift,” Buckland ostensibly said, adding:

“What we're struggling to understand is why it is so large and, also, is it a gift to help with the cost of the wedding or is it a wedding gift to the bride?”

Turk, 35, responded, according to the cited transcript:

“No, wedding – so basically wedding – so for the cost of the wedding.”

At that point Turk added the cash transfer was “a gift” and allegedly gave Buckland the number of Prince Andrew's private secretary.

Thirsk is said to have confirmed: “It's a gift for the wedding, a wedding gift.”

Princess Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private ceremony in Windsor in July 2020.

Princess Beatrice of York attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala

© AP Photo / Charles Sykes

As the alleged fraud case continues, according to a court document dated April 2021, Selman Turk has been vehemently disputing his former client, Mrs. 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.”

It should also be noted that there has been no suggestion in the court documents pertaining to the fraud case of any wrongdoing by Prince Andrew or Sarah Ferguson. The Queen’s second son repaid the £750,000 approximately 16 months after receiving the cash. There is no clarity as to whether he was aware of the money being channeled into his personal bank account, or what it was for. No official comment on the report has been made by the royal, while a spokesperson for Ferguson stated that she had been unaware of the allegations against Selman Turk.

“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,” said the spokesperson.

There has not yet been any comment from Buckingham Palace.