Duchess of York praised alleged Turkish fraudster – who paid her £225,000 – as ‘wonderful man’
The Duchess of York praised an alleged Turkish fraudster as a “wonderful man” just weeks after he transferred £225,000 to her, social media videos reveal.
Footage taken from two events at a London restaurant show the Duchess voicing support for Selman Turk and his company, Heyman AI.
The digital bank won an award in November 2019 from Pitch@Palace, a Dragons’ Den-style project created by the Duke of York. Just nine days later, Mr Turk transferred £750,000 to the Duke. He has since paid back the money.
Details about the cash transfers emerged last month after Nebahat Isbilen, the 77-year-old wife of a jailed Turkish MP, lodged papers claiming some of her wealth was fraudulently transferred by Mr Turk, whom she had initially thought was helping him.
Mr Turk denies her claims and any wrongdoing.
The High Court case into the fraud allegations also heard that the Duchess received a total of £225,000 from Alphabet Capital Ltd, one of the Turkish businessman’s companies.
She has since said she was working as a “brand ambassador” for an American solar energy company, and the Alphabet company was acting as conduit for her fee. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Duke or Duchess of York.
During the videos, both obtained by the Mail on Sunday, the Duchess praises Mr Turk’s banking venture, which has since ceased its operations.
In the first short clip recorded at a Belgravia restaurant in September 2019, the Duchess, 62, appears to have her arm around Mr Turk’s back as she says: “Good luck, Heyman team. Come on, let’s do this. Let’s do it. We can do it.”
In the second clip taken five months later at the same restaurant, she says: “So, good luck, good luck in what you are doing, because I completely believe in the customer care of this wonderful man, Selman, and what you are doing in every single aspect of what you are doing.
“I am here to support and help, and whatever I can do, to take this to the next level. So good luck and well done.”
Mr Turk then turns to the Duchess and says: “Thank you.”
A spokesman for the Duchess said she has been “completely open” about knowing Mr Turk, was supportive of his business ventures and was unaware of the allegations that have since been made against him.
