Prince Andrew invited an alleged fraudster and a convicted gun smuggler to St James’s Palace, according to court documents.
The Duke of York, along with the Duchess of York and their daughters, received about £1.4million from former Goldman Sachs banker Selman Turk.
Turk, 37, is accused of stealing £40million from Turkish millionairess Nebahat Evyap Ibsilen, who hired him to help transfer her assets out of Turkey, where her MP husband is a political prisoner.
The 78-year-old alleged that he tricked her into making a payment of £750,000 to the Duke, who he claimed had helped to secure her a British passport. Last month, the Duke and Duchess reached a settlement with the millionairess.
According to The Telegraph, Prince Andrew was introduced to Turk in 2019 by Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan gun smuggler.
And documents submitted in the closing stages of the case at the High Court say Prince Andrew allegedly invited Turk and Kaituni to one of London’s oldest palaces, The Telegraph reported.
Selman Turk alongside Tarek Kaituni during a visit to a royal residence
Prince Andrew, pictured shaking hands with Selman Turk, who is accused of fraud
Mrs Isbilen is suing Turk and various offshore companies over the missing money and has also issued contempt proceedings over an alleged court order breach.
It is believed The Duke, Turk and Kaituni came together for a dinner for potential investors at Turk’s South Kensington house in December 2019.
Then two months later, the gun smuggler and alleged fraudster were photographed together at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
During the case, Mrs Isbilen claimed Turk tricked her and she made a payment of £750,000 to the Duke when she was told he helped to secure a passport for her.
This was transferred just over a week after Turk won an award for a business idea from Pitch@Palace, a initiative held at St James’s Palace.
Turk told the court the payment was a ‘gift’ to the Duke for his daughter’s wedding and was unrelated.
Prince Andrew repaid the money in March 2021, after Mrs Isbilen’s solicitors wrote to him about Turk, but has offered no explanation.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Turk is even alleged to have arranged payments for Princess Eugenie
Further payments to the Duke and his family were made, totalling £350,000 to the Duke, £225,000 to the Duchess and £25,000 to Princess Eugenie.
Eugenie said last year that the money was given to her by a ‘longstanding family friend’ to assist with the cost of a surprise party for her mother.
According to The Telegraph, the cash was paid using a UK-based company Alphabet Capital.
The Duchess of York also received payments of £225,000 while Princess Eugenie got £25,000.
Neither the Duke nor the Duchess are accused of wrongdoing.
Turk denies dishonestly ‘misappropriating’ the money and said Mrs Isbilen decided to give Prince Andrew the money ‘on her own initiative’.
He denies all allegations made against him.
A judgement on the contempt case is expected in the coming weeks.