PRINCE Andrew was introduced to an alleged fraudster who gave him £1 million by a convicted Libyan gun runner, it was claimed.
The Duke of York and his former wife Sarah Ferguson received “suspicious” payments on the orders of Selman Turk, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as part of a £40m international fraud, it is alleged.
Tarek Kaituni was convicted in 2005 of smuggling a sub-machinegun into France.
He was invited to Princess Beatrice‘s 21st birthday party in Spain in August 2009, where he also gave her a diamond pendant worth £18,000, and attended the wedding of Princess Eugenie in 2018.
Kaituni, who has US citizenship, would later brag of his influence over the Duke of York, and helped set up secret meetings with Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Mr Turk was reportedly introduced to Prince Andrew by Tarek Kaituni at a birthday party at Windsor Castle in the early summer of 2019, the Telegraph reports.
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A few months earlier Mr Turk and Kaituni had been introduced by mutual friends.
Mr Turk shared images of him and Kaituni inside what is believed to be Frogmore House, the royal residence in Windsor Great Park, during a visit in February 2020.
Following the initial introduction, Turk and Kaituni held meetings with the Duke in London on at least two occasions.
That included at a dinner held for the Duke with potential investors at Turk apartment in South Kensington on December 5, 2019.
A spokesman for the Prince declined to comment on report.
Andrew is embroiled in an extraordinary High Court case amid claims he was given cash by Turk, who accused of swindling a Turkish millionairess out of her £40m fortune.
Court papers say the payments included a £750,000 “gift” to the royal from Nebahat Isbilen.
The 76-year-old was allegedly told the sum would pay for help with a passport so she could flee political persecution in Turkey.
A further £350,000 payment, linked to Mr Turk, was allegedly made to Prince Andrew through a third party account.
The Duke has repaid the £750,000 and there is no suggestion he was party to the alleged fraud.
Mr Turk denies the allegations.
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Andrew’s links to Libya date back around 20 years, when the Duke visited an arms fair in Jordan with his new Equerry Robert Olney.
He was first introduced to Kaituni, formerly married to glamorous Dutch supermodel Lisa van Goinga, by an unnamed Middle Eastern sheikh.
