Andrew's latest scandal: Dispute with ex-wife, Turkish woman and businessman
3 Min Read
Many are wondering why Prince Andrew received over a million British pounds from Selman Turk.
-
Disgraced Prince Andrew, in an event in London, UK, on March 29, 2022. (AP)
Prince Andrew, after the settlement with Virginia Giuffre after facing allegations of sexual assault, is facing calls to explain why he received 1 million British pounds in payments linked to a financier who is currently facing allegations of fraud.
Andrew faces a new dispute between him, his wife, and Turkish woman and a businessman.
In 2019, Andrew received 750,000 British pounds from Nebahat Isbilen, who was told by her financier advisor, Selman Turk to pay money to the prince in return for going through with a passport application.
Read more: Will Prince Andrew use public money for Giuffre's case? MPs want answers
Turk is the founder and chief executive of Heyman AI, a digital challenger bank that received an award from Andrew nine days before the payment.
Isbilen issued a court case against Andrew, which led to the uncovering of more payments of up to 350,000 British pounds to Andrew from a company called Alphabet Capital Ltd.
Alphabet Capital is largely described as a fraudulent and covert front to make transactions connected to Turk.
Ferguson used to receive payments of at least 225,000 British pounds from Turk through Alphabet. It is said that the payment was in connection to her work with a solar power company.
Andrew declined to comment on the matter, while Ferguson's spokesperson said she was unaware of the allegations against Turk.
As for the money received by Isbilen, Andrew repaid the 750,000 British pounds a year and 4 months after he received it.
Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic, who has recently called for the dissolution of the British monarchy, said Andrew should specify why he thought the money was paid to him.
“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.”
Ferguson's spokesperson 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.”
A spokesperson for Andrew said: “We are unable to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
Turk, furthermore, disputed Ferguson's allegations in a court document from April 2021: “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.”
