Posted on 10/24/2007 8:48:33 PM PDT by blam
Sultan of Brunei lets slip his £4bn lifestyle
By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 1:46am BST 25/10/2007
The Sultan of Brunei, who is embroiled in the most expensive family feud in legal history, transferred $8 billion (£3.9 billion) of state funds into his personal bank account to help fund his lavish lifestyle, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
The Sultan of Brunei and his wife, Queen Hajah Mariam, is the world’s wealthiest monarch, with a £10 billion fortune
The sultan, one of the world's richest men, has been forced to disclose his personal finances in a court case at the Privy Council in London, which is the former British colony's ultimate court of appeal.
He and his younger brother Prince Jefri have been involved in an extraordinary dispute over money which has lasted for almost 10 years — and which is likely to end with a legal bill of £200 million. To help it reach a decision, the Privy Council ordered the sultan to open his books to the court.
The £3.9 billion, which exceeds Brunei's entire annual gross domestic product, was paid into his personal account over four years. Papers supplied to the court, which sits in Downing Street, include a 50-page list of payments to hundreds of people who have benefited from the sultan's legendary spending.
The payments, totalling £19.5 billion, include £1.25 million to masseuses and acupuncturists; £7.3 million and £6.59 million to two house supervisors; £1.26 million to a badminton coach and £5.86 million to each of his five public relations officers, listed as Yoya, Prall, Vicky, Shelly and Janet.
The papers were supplied to the court by the Brunei Invesment Authority, which reports to the sultan.
They also show that Desmond Browne, QC, the British barrister, received a payment of £2,440 and that the sultan's outgoings included £48,859 for guards for the exotic bird cages at his palace.
Prince Jefri claims the sultan reneged on an earlier agreement
The sultan is suing Prince Jefri, accusing him of embezzling £8 billion in the 13 years that he was finance minister of the oil and gas-rich state. The sultan claims that the prince has failed to repay all of the £3 billion that was agreed in an out-of-court settlement in 2000.
Prince Jefri transferred many of the assets, including a number of properties in Brunei, the Philippines and Britain, to the Brunei government.
Other returned assets included cars, paintings, aircraft and boats, including a yacht described — in deference to the sensibilities of the Privy Council — as Pacific Heights Motor Yacht. It is more usually known by its famously chosen name of MV Tits.
But Prince Jefri declined to complete the return of assets, alleging that the sultan reneged on his part of the deal by repossessing properties in Brunei that he had agreed the prince should hold.
The prince is appealing against the embezzlement allegations, claiming he can never receive a fair trial in Brunei, where the sultan is absolute ruler.
After a four-day hearing before Lords Bingham, Hope, Mance, Neuberger and Scott, the Privy Council reserved its judgment on Prince Jefri's appeal until later this month.
The Privy Council is Brunei's superior court, a legacy of former British rule. A tiny state in the north of the mostly Indonesian island of Borneo, Brunei was administered by the British for much of the last century, only gaining full independence in 1984.
The sultan, who has ruled as an absolute monarch for 40 years, has declared himself infallible. He has rewritten the country's constitution, which now declares: "His Majesty the Sultan. . . can do no wrong in either his personal or any official capacity."
The rewritten constitution also warns off anyone from taking the sultan's name in vain in court anywhere in the world. "No person shall publish or reproduce in Brunei or elsewhere any part of proceedings. . . that may have the effect of lowering. . . the position, dignity, standing, honour, eminence or sovereignty of His Majesty the Sultan," it says.
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah inherited an unbroken 600-year-old dynasty when he came to the throne, and is rated by Forbes magazine as the world's wealthiest monarch, with a personal fortune of around £10 billion.
Don't anyone let hillary see this. She might get ideas.
The Sultan came to Oklahoma City for heart surgery for a son about four years ago. They brought a very large family group and stayed about a month. The high fashion stores sold a lot of clothes.
Too late.
The sultan, who has ruled as an absolute monarch for 40 years, has declared himself infallible. He has rewritten the country’s constitution, which now declares: “His Majesty the Sultan. . . can do no wrong in either his personal or any official capacity.”
The Bible says “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of GOD”
so the Sultan thinks he is Equal to Allah? typical.
Booooring. Can’t we talk about Britney Spears?
Wow.......what tripe. Clinton likes to make himself sound like some lowly, near-broke schmuck.......and the a**hole has gotten stinking rich strictly due to his corruption and political connections (check out his speaking fees). What a putz.
He also lied about Michael Hutchence. The dude killed himself. He didn’t die of an “unfortunate accident in Australia”. Tragic, yes; accidental..........no. As usual, Clinton applying selective memory.
I’d like to live in pajamas
Wonder why he didn't go to Canada, or Cuba. I hear it's cheaper.
Momma don't look happy...and you know what they say...When Momma ain't happy...ain't nobody happy.
All that money and that’s what he wears?
That must be a heck of a badminton coach...
>>>He and his younger brother Prince Jefri have been involved in an extraordinary dispute over money which has lasted for almost 10 years.
Well they have expenses.
Independent, The (London), Mar 16, 1998 by Steve Boggan
THE most expensive civil action in English legal history, between Prince Jefri of Brunei and two of his closest emissaries, has been settled out of court.
Lawyers for the men, who were suing each other for claims totalling pounds 180m, confirmed last night that they had reached an “amicable” settlement following astonishing courtroom revelations of sexual and financial excesses.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/sultan1.html
According to a lawsuit filed by ex-Miss USA Shannon Marketic, portions of which are reproduced here, that country’s billionaire rulers regularly import American women for six-week stints as high-paid hookers. Marketic, a devout Christian, claims she was unaware that, in exchange for $127,200, women were expected to serve the Sultan and his rowdy friends.
The 27-year-old actress/model initially sued the Los Angeles “talent agency” she says recruited her, as well as the Sultan of Brunei (identified here as Haji Hassanal Bolkiah) and his brother, Prince Jefri. But a federal judge last month ruled that the Sultan, one of the world’s richest men, cannot be sued due to the immunity afforded a head of state.
In the picture with this article, it doesn’t look like they are wearing anything they bought in OK.
They are wearing some of the worst looking clothes I think I have ever seen.
“His brother, Prince Jefri, lost billions more, squandering the money on a string of acquisitions around the world including a super-yacht called Tits, complete with two tenders, Nipple I and Nipple II.”
From the Internaational PR Firm of Hootchie Mama.
How can you go wrong or be depicted as an international putz with Vicky, Shelly and Janet touting your every move?
That must be a heck of a badminton coach...
Thats so He can quicly and powerfully backhand his servants to their Face ... when the softboiled eggs are 70 seconds instead of 60 seconds. or their shadow crosses his path!
The Royal Family came to Singapore unnanounced.. and they Packed my stuff from the Executive Floor gave me a room on another floor and comped me because the sultans Family always likes the two top Floors!The executive floor staff always Threatened to quit because they were so demanding like Jerks..it really is sad that people can be so obnoxious..
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