Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have both been named in evidence during a financial dispute between a Turkish millionaire and a businessman.
Affidavits featured in the High Court trial also mentioned the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, to whom ‘substantial sums’ were paid to.
Nebahat Isbilen, in her 70s, is suing former Goldman Sachs banker Selman Turk accusing him of mishandling millions of pounds whilst acting as her financial adviser.
Among her claims was one that he tricked her into giving Prince Andrew £750,000 by form of ‘assistance’ helping her secure a passport in November 2019.
However, the money was described as a ‘wedding gift’ to his daughter Beatrice, the court has heard.
‘In or around November 2019, Mr Turk told Ms Isbilen that she needed to make a purported “gift” of £750,000 to HRH Duke of York by way of payment for assistance that he told her HRH Duke of York has provided in relation to Ms Isbilen’s Turkish passport,’ a statement of claim read.
‘The representation that Ms 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 Ms Isbilen to rely on it.’
Transcripts from telephone conversations between Mr Turk, Ms Isbilen’s bank and Prince Andrew’s private office have been obtained, Ms Isbilen’s solicitor, Jonathan Tickner, told The Telegraph.
Within them, it is reiterated the money was a gift to Beatrice who had got engaged two months prior to the call.
Further transcripts purported to be of two calls in November 2019 and published by the Daily Mail appear to show a bank representative asking Mr Turk and the duke’s office what the payment was for.
It was repeated on both occasions by Andrew’s former private secretary the money was believed to be a wedding gift.
There is reported to be no suggestion in court documents that Beatrice was aware of the conversations.
Ms Isbilen has denied sending the money to the duke as a gift to celebrate her upcoming nuptials, insisting it was solely for his assistance in acquiring documents.
The affidavit said: ‘Mr Turk told me that he received help from the Duke of York to show or send the picture of my old passport to Turkey and that this service would normally be worth £2 million, but it would cost less if we made the payment by way of a gift.
‘I did not understand the nature of the services received then, and have also difficulty of explaining it now.
‘I have seen an email from Mr Turk… explaining that this transfer was a wedding gift to Princess Beatrice owing to the close connection between our families. This email is entirely false.’
Bank statements obtained by Mr Tickner also show Eugenie was paid £25,000 – allegedly from Ms Isbilen’s account – over two consecutive days, whilst £15,000 was sent from Mr Turk’s account with the reference ‘birthday gift’, The Telegraph reported.
In a statement given to the paper, Eugenie said she understood the money to be ‘gifts from a long-standing family friend to assist with the cost of a surprise party’ for her mother’s 60th birthday.
She said she knew neither Ms Isbilen nor Mr Turk, nor of the claim made by Ms Isbilen’s lawyers, and had no knowledge the money from Mr Turk was anything other than ‘entirely respectable’.
A spokeswoman for the Duke said: ‘We are unable to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.’
It was yesterday that Andrew had ‘repaid’ a sum of £750,000.
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