Prince Jefri of Brunei made big time news back in 2000 when the government of Brunei accused him of "transferring" £8billion of government money into his own Amedeo Development Corporation during his 13-year stint as Finance Minister. His corporation later went bust but its debts almost bankrupted the country. The poor Prince made an "out-of-court settlement" whereby he would hand over £3billion. What happened to the other £5billion he stole?
In spite of getting such a discount, it seems he didn't comply fully with the court orders, as he was accused of failing to hand over five properties in the United States and Europe and a trust fund that seems to have slipped his memory.
Looking for an easier life, Prince Jefri left Brunei, set up residency in London. It seems he was also looking for a more lenient legal system and took his case to the Privy Council. But the Privy Council backed up the Brunei courts and ordered him to hand over the New York Palace Hotel, the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, three homes in London and Paris, and the trust fund.
Instead of abiding by the court decision our honourable prince did a runner. Instead of appearing in court he contacted his solicitors from… France! The response of the judge dealing with case was to rule the prince in "contempt of court", and also issued a warrant for his arrest which can also be enforced in other EU countries.
According to media sources in Brunei, Prince Jefri has four wives, 17 children and 18 adopted wards. That must involve quite a sizeable shopping bill, especially with the lavish lifestyle they are all accustomed to. Seven years ago, shortly after being ordered to pay money back to the Brunei government, he sold off some of his stuff, like any family falling on hard times, doing the equivalent of a "car boot sale".
But this was no ordinary boot sale. The things he sold raised around £4million. Among the things he sold were "8,500 slabs of Italian marble, 200 lampposts, a Formula One racing simulator, an aircraft flight simulator, hundreds of gold-plated lavatory brush holders, thousands of expensive items of crockery and utensils, and a white Jacuzzi complete with gold-plated fittings." He kept back a flight simulator for an attack helicopter and two unused fire engines should he face hard times in the future.
And if you think Prince Jefri is an exception, just look at the top man in Brunei, Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah. He lives in palace with 1,788 rooms. He needs to extra rooms for the family and just in case a few friends should turn up. We have not been informed of how many bathrooms the place has, nor how many gold taps it has, but we can assure you that there are quite a few.
Menawhile Prinbce Jefri is contemplating the prospect of living in a one room flat in one of Her Majesty's prisons… We wouldn't want to bet on whether he will ever actually take up residence!
