Prince Andrew’s marital home bought with laundered money from Kazakh scam?

LONDON - An exiled multi-millionaire, Mukhtar Ablyazov, has alleged that the Duke of York, Prince Andrew’s former home was bought for 15 million pounds using laundered money.

He reportedly claimed that the purchase of Sunninghill Park was paid for with cash from the sale of a state-run firm in Kazakhstan.

According to the Daily Mail, Ablyazov now intends to call Prince Andrew as a defence witness in his own corruption case to give evidence about the sale.

Sunninghill in Berkshire was Andrew’s marital home with the Duchess of York. It was sold to Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the president of Kazakhstan, for 15million pounds in 2007, despite having been on the market for less than 3 million pounds.

Ablyazov has claimed that he possesses documents which link the purchase with the sell-off of a 110 million pounds stake in a state-owned oil and gas company in Kazakhstan. He is expected to include the allegation in legal submissions to the High Court later this month.

Such a court appearance would be potentially embarrassing for the prince, who has built links with Kazakhstan because of his role as Britain’s international trade ambassador, the paper reports.

The 600-acre estate near Ascot was reportedly bought through a company registered in the British Virgin Islands but the prince has always denied any involvement in the deal.

Ablyazov is allegedly involved in corruption in his home country, where he was chairman of the former Soviet state’s biggest bank, Bank TuranAlem.

He fled to Britain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Kazakhstan last year, and has applied for asylum there. (ANI)