Duke of York named in High Court ruling on case featuring Turkish businessman

The Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah have been named in a ruling on a High Court case featuring an elderly Turkish woman and a Turkish businessman based in London.

A judge was told that “substantial sums” had been paid to Andrew and to Sarah, Duchess of York.

Deputy High Court judge David Halpern has named them in a recent ruling on the case, a dispute between Nebahat Isbilen, who is in her 70s, and businessman Selman Turk.

Mrs Isbilen had needed assistance moving her assets out of Turkey after her husband was imprisoned there owing to his “political affiliations”, the judge had been told.

Named in court case: The Duchess of York and Prince Andrew

Mr Turk, a businessman and former banker, had agreed to help Mrs Isbilen move her assets out of reach of the Turkish authorities.

Mrs Isbilen has alleged that Mr Turk “breached fiduciary obligations he owed to her” and “advances claims in deceit”.

Mr Turk is fighting the case.

The litigation is ongoing and has been heard at the High Court in London. A number of preliminary rulings have been published.

Judge Halpern said a lawyer representing Mrs Isbilen had told him, in an affidavit, that information had emerged to show evidence given by Mr Turk was “misleading”.

He said solicitor Jonathan Tickner had told him how evidence showed that “money was used for purposes unconnected with Mrs Isbilen, e.g., substantial sums were paid to Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and to Sarah, Duchess of York”.

Judge Halpern said barrister Dan McCourt Fritz, who represents Mrs Isbilen, had told him that the “total sums which his client claims were misappropriated” amounted to some 50 million US dollars (about £38 million).

“Mr Turk has provided explanations for approximately two thirds of these sums, most of which have been allegedly spent on professional or other fees or lost in bad investments,” the judge added, in his ruling.

“No explanation at all has been given for the remaining one third.”

Last month, a civil sexual assault case brought against the Duke of York in the US was officially dismissed after he paid a financial settlement to his accuser Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre claimed the duke had sex with her when she was 17 and she had been trafficked by his friend, the late billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew denied her claims.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription at https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions