[News] Prince Andrew agrees settlement with Turkish millionaire who accused him of accepting £1.4m of her money ‘stolen’ by an alleged fraudster

Prince Andrew has reached a confidential settlement with a Turkish millionaire who accused him of accepting large sums of her money from an alleged fraudster.

 

 

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 some £40million from Nebahat Evyap Ibsilen, 77, who hired him to help transfer her assets out of Turkey, where her MP husband is a political prisoner.

 

 

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.

 

 

She 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.

 

 

Turk claimed the payment, which the prince later repaid at the request of Mrs Isbilen’s solicitors, was a gift to the duke for his daughter’s wedding.

 

 

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.

 

 

The High Court court heard on Tuesday that the Duke and Duchess, who still live together, had reached a settlement with Mrs Isbilen for an undisclosed sum.

 

 

According to The Telegraph, the cash was paid using a UK-based company Alphabet Capital. 

 

 

The High Court heard the payment was made shortly after Mr Turk won an award for his digital bank business idea at the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace initiative. 

 

 

Mr Turk denied there was any connection between the payment to the Duke and his victory in the competition. 

 

 

The Court heard the Duke repaid the money in March 2021 after receiving letters from Mrs Isbilen’s legal team. 

 

 

The Duchess of York also received payments of £225,000 while Princess Eugenie got £25,000. 

 

 

According to the Telegraph, the Duke of York was introduced to the businessman in May or June 2019 by convicted Libyan gun smuggler Tarek Kaituni, who had links with Colonel Gaddafi.  

 

 

A source close to the Duchess of York told the paper, she was ‘completely unaware’ of the allegations against Mr Turk when she accepted money from him.