Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's financial messiness has been discussed among royal circles for a long time. The latest and arguably most outrageous lawsuit against them is just amping up, however, and this time, the entire York family is involved.
The Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson were named in a High Court international fraud lawsuit. It is alleged that the former couple received "suspicious" payments on the orders of Selman Turk, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as part of a £40 million (about $52.4 million) international fraud. Turk is accused of taking money from 76-year-old Turkish millionairess Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, who was told she was paying for help with a passport so she could flee political persecution in Turkey, where her husband is a political prisoner after a failed coup attempt.
The case is incredibly complicated, involving a complex network of businesses and payments to accounts set up in the UK, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands. Isbilen's legal team has been privy to Turk's bank accounts and those of companies linked to him as a result of court orders in the investigation. Those documents revealed payments to the Duke and Duchess of York, some of which involved daughters Beatrice and Eugenie.
Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a 76-year-old millionaire who had fled persecution in her native Turkey, was shown to make a £750,000 payment (about $983,000) into the Duke of York's personal account. The payment came nine days after the duke's Pitch@Palace event, a Shark Tank-esque endeavor that saw entrepreneurs presenting rapid-fire pitches to a room at St. James's Palace that included all varieties of professionals and investors who could help those pitches be made into reality.
That night, a digital banking company called Heyman AI won the coveted People's Choice Award. Its chief executive and founder is Selman Turk. Isbilen says Turk, who was also her financial adviser, told her to make the payment to the Duke of York for help he'd allegedly given her in acquiring a new Turkish passport.
Bankers who questioned the payment were told it was a wedding gift for his eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice. Prince Andrew is believed to have received a total of £1.1 million ($1.4 million) in funds from Isbilen via Turk. Sarah, Duchess of York received £225,000 ($295,000). Princess Eugenie was also paid £25,000 ($33,000).
Sources close to the investigation believe that Beatrice and Eugenie had no idea their parents were entangling them in the situation. Sarah is allegedly "distraught" that they are now being dragged into legal proceedings, The Telegraph reports. That said, she believes the money she received was legitimate payment from a company she was acting as a brand ambassador for. She doesn't intend to return any of the money and says that company is responsible for any debt.
The first payment made to any of the Yorks was to Sarah in August 2019. A series of payments were made through a third party, Alphabet Capital, to all members of the family over the subsequent months. The £25,000 payment to Eugenie was made over the course of two days. The first day, October 9, a £10,000 transfer was made. On October 10, a payment of £15,066.05 was made from Turk to Eugenie and noted as a birthday gift.
Later, that payment was brought into question because Eugenie's birthday is on March 23. It was then clarified that the payment was actually for Eugenie to use on a surprise birthday party for the duchess, whose birthday is October 15.
The £750,000 that was labeled as a wedding gift for Princess Beatrice, whose wedding was postponed at the time of the payment due to the pandemic, was repaid by the Duke of York. Legal experts point out that money would be subject to taxation if it were for services rendered or any arrangement outside of gift giving, however.
As the investigation into Turk continues, he has a worldwide freezing order on his assets and has surrendered his passport. He maintains his innocence. Andrew and Sarah both maintain they didn't know of his dealings and are innocent as well.
Princess Eugenie released a statement on the matter: "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.
"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."
