Prince Jefri Bolkiah
Encyclopedia
Prince Jefri Bolkiah, full name His Royal Highness Pengiran Digadong Sahibul Mal Pengiran Muda Jefri Bolkiah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien (born 1 January 1954), is a member of the Brunei
Royal Family. His elder brother is current Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah
.
Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1998. He also served as chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) which invests much of the country's wealth and was responsible for overseas investments. In the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the sultan had external accountants audit the books of BIA, resulting in charges by the Brunei government that Prince Jefri had embezzled $14.8 billion. He denies the charges but in 2000 agreed to turn over his personal holdings to the government, in return for avoiding criminal prosecution and being allowed to keep a personal residence in Brunei. After numerous legal disputes and appeals, in 2007 Britain
's Privy Council
ruled that this agreement is enforceable. His various legal issues with the Bruneian state have become the most expensive legal case in British legal history. Prince Jefri is known for his extravagant lifestyle. His personal holdings included a huge art collection, the British jeweler Asprey
, The New York Palace Hotel
, Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles
and Plaza Athénée
in Paris
. He is married to three wives and divorced from two others and has eighteen children.
(the 29th Sultan of Brunei and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam).
He has had five wives, two of whom he is divorced from and three to whom he is still married, and eighteen children aged between around 4 to 37. Additionally he has faced a number of accusations, including lawsuits from the women allegedly involved, that he has paid women to go to Brunei to have sex with him (see “Other legal issues” below); it is alleged he kept a harem
of up to forty women for several years, which included the writer Jillian Lauren
, who published a book about her experiences. Jillian says that Jefri liked to be called "Robin" by women in the harem, which is also the vanity plate on one of his Bentley Continental R
s.
He was known for his extravagant lifestyle, which included a private Boeing 747
, a large art collection including works by Manet
, Renoir
and at least twenty-one works by Degas, along with a collection of 2000 luxury cars, a number of properties including the Plaza Athénée
hotel in Paris and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, The New York Palace Hotel
in Manhattan
, and others in Paris
, Las Vegas
and St. John's Lodge, in Regent's Park
, London
, businesses such as the luxury goods manufacturer Asprey
, and a yacht
named Tits (which came with lifeboats named Nipple 1 and Nipple 2). His assets were estimated at $1.5 billion. In recent years, due to his legal issues (see below) he has been forced to sell many of his assets and be exiled from Brunei, although as of September 2009 he appears to have been allowed to return to Brunei and has been seen in public with the Royal Family.
Brunei is a gas
and oil
rich state ruled by the Sultan in a constitutional sultanate; the Sultan has control over every aspect of life in Brunei. The Sultan was, at one time, the richest man in the world
. From 20 October 1986 to 23 February 1997 Prince Jefri was the Minister of Finance
for Brunei, responsible for dealing with revenue from oil and gas through the state body Brunei Investment Authority (BIA)
, of which Prince Jefri was chairman.
Prince Jefri also owned a network of companies and investment vehicles under the name Amadeo run by his son Hakim, which was used to buy the luxury goods company Asprey
and build an amusement park and other projects in Brunei. In July 1998 the Amadeo group collapsed under US$10 billion in debt. Between 1983 and mid-1998 some US$40 billion of what were called "special transfers" were made from the accounts of the BIA.
An independent investigation was undertaken into the circumstances of these special transfers, concluding that in round figures, US$14.8 billion were paid to the accounts of Prince Jefri, US$8 billion to accounts of the Sultan and US$3.8 billion for Government purposes; the destination, purpose and recipients of the remaining transfers were not established. Due to the secretive nature of the state and the blurred lines as to where the royal family’s finances and the state finances began and ended, establishing the true course of events is very difficult.
Prince Jefri was accused of misappropriating state funds to pay for his own personal investments, bought through BIA and Amadeo companies and removed from his position as head of BIA. In February 2000 the Bruneian government attempted to obtain a freezing order
on Prince Jefri’s overseas assets, which led to him countersuing
in New York
. Following protracted negotiations a settlement agreement was signed by the Prince in May 2000, the terms of which were never made public. However, Prince Jefri claimed assurances were made to him by the Sultan with regards to keeping certain properties in order to maintain his lifestyle, which BIA denied.
In accordance with the settlement agreement signed in 2000, the prince began to return his assets to the state, including more than 500 properties, both in Brunei and abroad, more than 2,000 cars, 100 paintings, five boats, and nine aircraft. In 2001 ten thousand lots of Prince Jefri’s possessions went to auction
.
However, the BIA alleged that the Prince failed to uphold the agreement by failing to disclose all his accounts, and allowing money to be taken from frozen accounts, and restarted legal proceedings in order to gain full control of the Prince’s assets. After a number of appeals, this finally reached the Privy Council
in London, which can serve as Brunei's highest court of appeal as a result of Brunei's former protectorate status. The Privy Council rejected Prince Jefri's evidence, describing his contention that the agreement allowed for him to retain a number of properties as "simply incredible", and ruled in favour of the Government of Brunei and the BIA; consequently the Prince's appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to return the rest of his assets to Brunei.
The decision of the Privy Council did not end the litigation between Prince Jefri and the BIA. The BIA re-opened proceedings in Malaysia and the Cayman Islands
, resulting in the BIA gaining control over the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles and the New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan.
The BIA also re-opened collateral litigation in the British High Court
. After winning before the Privy Council, the BIA asked the court to determine whether Prince Jefri should be held in contempt of court
for allegedly making misstatements in his listing of assets. The contempt proceeding was scheduled for a hearing in June 2008, but the Prince did not attend, instead going to Paris. Judge Peter Smith
did not rule on whether Prince Jefri was in contempt, but did issue a warrant
for his arrest. As of November 2010, the warrant still appears to be in place, meaning the Prince will be arrested if he enters the UK.
As of October 2009, Prince Jefri appears to have been allowed back to Brunei.
, a former Miss USA
, accused Prince Jefri and the Sultan, among others, of flying her and many other women to Brunei under false pretenses to be part of a harem, and that she was abused by those in the royal court. She claims she was made part of Prince Jefri's personal harem of women that was made to carry out the prince's every sexual whim, such as to "lick him clean", in where the women were made to lick the prince's naked body. The case was settled out of court.
In February 1998 Prince Jefri was sued by his former business partners Bob and Rafi Manoukian for £80 million over two property deals they claim he reneged upon; the Manoukians claimed he flew in prostitutes from around the world and led a wildly extravagant lifestyle. The Prince countersued, then settled out of court.
In 2006, the Prince began legal proceedings against his former advisors, the barrister
Thomas Derbyshire and his wife Faith Zaman, in both the UK and US, accusing them of stealing funds from him. The pair had worked for Prince Jefri since 2004, were given authority over a number of the Prince's companies, and were accused of using proceeds from property sales for their own benefit and charging personal expenses to corporate credit cards. However, they contended no money was taken and all the contested purchases were for the use of the Prince and his family, and counter-sued for US$12 million they claim they were owed. The case is estimated to have cost Brunei US$60 million to litigate despite the value of the court case being US$7 million and Prince Jefri being a key witness for the State of Brunei, which has repeatedly taken him to court, challenging his compliance with court orders and questioning his veracity. In November 2010, pictures of statues the Prince had made of him and his fiancee having sex were leaked.
Various details, such as previous challenges by BIA to Prince Jefri's credibility, the wealth of Prince Jefri, the Sultan and the state of Brunei, his multiple wives, his legal advisor David Sandy's previous prosecutions, the statues and the still-in-effect British warrant for the Prince's arrest were banned from being mentioned in the courtroom as Judge Ira Gammerman ruled they were irrelevant to the case. After nearly six weeks of trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict against the Prince on all but one count. The Prince and the New York Palace Hotel were ordered to pay the Derbyshires US$21 million in total. Brunei has stated it intends to appeal.
The Prince’s current legal advisor and spokesman is David Sandy, a partner at Simmons & Simmons who twice faced trial on charges of evidence tampering, and agreed not to practice as a lawyer for eighteen months in order to settle the case.
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
Royal Family. His elder brother is current Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah
Hassanal Bolkiah
General Haji Sir Hassan al-Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah GCB GCMG is the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the 29th Sultan of Brunei and the first Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam...
.
Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1998. He also served as chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) which invests much of the country's wealth and was responsible for overseas investments. In the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the sultan had external accountants audit the books of BIA, resulting in charges by the Brunei government that Prince Jefri had embezzled $14.8 billion. He denies the charges but in 2000 agreed to turn over his personal holdings to the government, in return for avoiding criminal prosecution and being allowed to keep a personal residence in Brunei. After numerous legal disputes and appeals, in 2007 Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
ruled that this agreement is enforceable. His various legal issues with the Bruneian state have become the most expensive legal case in British legal history. Prince Jefri is known for his extravagant lifestyle. His personal holdings included a huge art collection, the British jeweler Asprey
Asprey
Asprey is a British luxury brand with a heritage that dates back to 1781. The brand offers an extensive range of gifts, jewellery, watches, leather, silver, bone china, crystal and rare books, all available in its flagship New Bond Street store. Asprey was once the destination for crowns,...
, The New York Palace Hotel
The New York Palace Hotel
The New York Palace blends the historic landmark Villard Mansion with a modern 55-story tower. Located at the center of Manhattan in Midtown at the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue, it is directly across the street from St Patrick's Cathedral, and a short walk from Rockefeller Center and...
, Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Plaza Athénée
Plaza Athénée
The Plaza Athénée is a hotel in Paris, France. It is located at 25 Avenue Montaigne, near the Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower. It is part of the Dorchester Collection group of international luxury hotels....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He is married to three wives and divorced from two others and has eighteen children.
Personal life
Prince Jefri is the youngest brother of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin WaddaulahHassanal Bolkiah
General Haji Sir Hassan al-Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah GCB GCMG is the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the 29th Sultan of Brunei and the first Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam...
(the 29th Sultan of Brunei and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam).
He has had five wives, two of whom he is divorced from and three to whom he is still married, and eighteen children aged between around 4 to 37. Additionally he has faced a number of accusations, including lawsuits from the women allegedly involved, that he has paid women to go to Brunei to have sex with him (see “Other legal issues” below); it is alleged he kept a harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
of up to forty women for several years, which included the writer Jillian Lauren
Jillian Lauren
Jillian Lauren is an American writer and performer.-Writing:Lauren has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Flaunt Magazine, Opium Magazine, Society, Pale House: A Collective and in the anthology My First Time: A Collection...
, who published a book about her experiences. Jillian says that Jefri liked to be called "Robin" by women in the harem, which is also the vanity plate on one of his Bentley Continental R
Bentley Continental R
The Bentley Continental R is a large, expensive, luxury coupé made by Bentley from 1991 to 2002. It was the first Bentley to feature a body not shared with a Rolls-Royce model since the S3 of 1965, the first to use the GM 4L80-E transmission, and the quickest, most expensive, and most powerful...
s.
He was known for his extravagant lifestyle, which included a private Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
, a large art collection including works by Manet
Manet
-MANET as an abbreviation:*MANET is a mobile ad hoc network, a self-configuring mobile wireless network.*MANET database or Molecular Ancestry Network, bioinformatics database-People with the surname Manet:*Édouard Manet, a 19th-century French painter....
, Renoir
Renoir
-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
and at least twenty-one works by Degas, along with a collection of 2000 luxury cars, a number of properties including the Plaza Athénée
Plaza Athénée
The Plaza Athénée is a hotel in Paris, France. It is located at 25 Avenue Montaigne, near the Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower. It is part of the Dorchester Collection group of international luxury hotels....
hotel in Paris and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, The New York Palace Hotel
The New York Palace Hotel
The New York Palace blends the historic landmark Villard Mansion with a modern 55-story tower. Located at the center of Manhattan in Midtown at the corner of 50th Street and Madison Avenue, it is directly across the street from St Patrick's Cathedral, and a short walk from Rockefeller Center and...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and others in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
and St. John's Lodge, in Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, businesses such as the luxury goods manufacturer Asprey
Asprey
Asprey is a British luxury brand with a heritage that dates back to 1781. The brand offers an extensive range of gifts, jewellery, watches, leather, silver, bone china, crystal and rare books, all available in its flagship New Bond Street store. Asprey was once the destination for crowns,...
, and a yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
named Tits (which came with lifeboats named Nipple 1 and Nipple 2). His assets were estimated at $1.5 billion. In recent years, due to his legal issues (see below) he has been forced to sell many of his assets and be exiled from Brunei, although as of September 2009 he appears to have been allowed to return to Brunei and has been seen in public with the Royal Family.
Legal issues with Brunei
Prince Jefri has had a number of legal issues with the state of Brunei, which have amounted to the most costly legal battle in the world.Brunei is a gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
rich state ruled by the Sultan in a constitutional sultanate; the Sultan has control over every aspect of life in Brunei. The Sultan was, at one time, the richest man in the world
Forbes list of billionaires
Forbes list of billionaires is based on an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 10, 2011.-Forbes list of billionaires :...
. From 20 October 1986 to 23 February 1997 Prince Jefri was the Minister of Finance
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
for Brunei, responsible for dealing with revenue from oil and gas through the state body Brunei Investment Authority (BIA)
Economy of Brunei
Brunei is a country with a small, wealthy economy that is a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation and welfare measures, and village tradition. It is almost totally supported by exports of crude oil and natural gas, with revenues from the petroleum sector accounting...
, of which Prince Jefri was chairman.
Prince Jefri also owned a network of companies and investment vehicles under the name Amadeo run by his son Hakim, which was used to buy the luxury goods company Asprey
Asprey
Asprey is a British luxury brand with a heritage that dates back to 1781. The brand offers an extensive range of gifts, jewellery, watches, leather, silver, bone china, crystal and rare books, all available in its flagship New Bond Street store. Asprey was once the destination for crowns,...
and build an amusement park and other projects in Brunei. In July 1998 the Amadeo group collapsed under US$10 billion in debt. Between 1983 and mid-1998 some US$40 billion of what were called "special transfers" were made from the accounts of the BIA.
An independent investigation was undertaken into the circumstances of these special transfers, concluding that in round figures, US$14.8 billion were paid to the accounts of Prince Jefri, US$8 billion to accounts of the Sultan and US$3.8 billion for Government purposes; the destination, purpose and recipients of the remaining transfers were not established. Due to the secretive nature of the state and the blurred lines as to where the royal family’s finances and the state finances began and ended, establishing the true course of events is very difficult.
Prince Jefri was accused of misappropriating state funds to pay for his own personal investments, bought through BIA and Amadeo companies and removed from his position as head of BIA. In February 2000 the Bruneian government attempted to obtain a freezing order
Mareva injunction
The Mareva injunction , in Commonwealth jurisdictions, is a court order which freezes assets so that a defendant to an action cannot dissipate their assets from beyond the jurisdiction of a court so as to frustrate a judgment...
on Prince Jefri’s overseas assets, which led to him countersuing
Counterclaim
In civil procedure, a party's claim is a counterclaim if the defending party has previously made a claim against the claiming party.Examples of counterclaims include:...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Following protracted negotiations a settlement agreement was signed by the Prince in May 2000, the terms of which were never made public. However, Prince Jefri claimed assurances were made to him by the Sultan with regards to keeping certain properties in order to maintain his lifestyle, which BIA denied.
In accordance with the settlement agreement signed in 2000, the prince began to return his assets to the state, including more than 500 properties, both in Brunei and abroad, more than 2,000 cars, 100 paintings, five boats, and nine aircraft. In 2001 ten thousand lots of Prince Jefri’s possessions went to auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
.
However, the BIA alleged that the Prince failed to uphold the agreement by failing to disclose all his accounts, and allowing money to be taken from frozen accounts, and restarted legal proceedings in order to gain full control of the Prince’s assets. After a number of appeals, this finally reached the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in London, which can serve as Brunei's highest court of appeal as a result of Brunei's former protectorate status. The Privy Council rejected Prince Jefri's evidence, describing his contention that the agreement allowed for him to retain a number of properties as "simply incredible", and ruled in favour of the Government of Brunei and the BIA; consequently the Prince's appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to return the rest of his assets to Brunei.
The decision of the Privy Council did not end the litigation between Prince Jefri and the BIA. The BIA re-opened proceedings in Malaysia and the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
, resulting in the BIA gaining control over the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles and the New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan.
The BIA also re-opened collateral litigation in the British High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
. After winning before the Privy Council, the BIA asked the court to determine whether Prince Jefri should be held in contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
for allegedly making misstatements in his listing of assets. The contempt proceeding was scheduled for a hearing in June 2008, but the Prince did not attend, instead going to Paris. Judge Peter Smith
Peter Smith (judge)
Sir Peter Winston Smith , styled The Hon Mr Justice Peter Smith, is a Judge of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, appointed to that office on 15 April 2002 and assigned to the Chancery Division...
did not rule on whether Prince Jefri was in contempt, but did issue a warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
for his arrest. As of November 2010, the warrant still appears to be in place, meaning the Prince will be arrested if he enters the UK.
As of October 2009, Prince Jefri appears to have been allowed back to Brunei.
Other legal issues
In 1997 Shannon MarketicShannon Marketic
Shannon LaRhea Marketic , is a former beauty queen from Phoenix, Arizona who became Miss USA 1992.-Early life:Marketic was crowned Miss Arizona Teen USA 1989 but held the title for only a week and a half after it was discovered an error had been made and she had actually placed first...
, a former Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
, accused Prince Jefri and the Sultan, among others, of flying her and many other women to Brunei under false pretenses to be part of a harem, and that she was abused by those in the royal court. She claims she was made part of Prince Jefri's personal harem of women that was made to carry out the prince's every sexual whim, such as to "lick him clean", in where the women were made to lick the prince's naked body. The case was settled out of court.
In February 1998 Prince Jefri was sued by his former business partners Bob and Rafi Manoukian for £80 million over two property deals they claim he reneged upon; the Manoukians claimed he flew in prostitutes from around the world and led a wildly extravagant lifestyle. The Prince countersued, then settled out of court.
In 2006, the Prince began legal proceedings against his former advisors, the barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
Thomas Derbyshire and his wife Faith Zaman, in both the UK and US, accusing them of stealing funds from him. The pair had worked for Prince Jefri since 2004, were given authority over a number of the Prince's companies, and were accused of using proceeds from property sales for their own benefit and charging personal expenses to corporate credit cards. However, they contended no money was taken and all the contested purchases were for the use of the Prince and his family, and counter-sued for US$12 million they claim they were owed. The case is estimated to have cost Brunei US$60 million to litigate despite the value of the court case being US$7 million and Prince Jefri being a key witness for the State of Brunei, which has repeatedly taken him to court, challenging his compliance with court orders and questioning his veracity. In November 2010, pictures of statues the Prince had made of him and his fiancee having sex were leaked.
Various details, such as previous challenges by BIA to Prince Jefri's credibility, the wealth of Prince Jefri, the Sultan and the state of Brunei, his multiple wives, his legal advisor David Sandy's previous prosecutions, the statues and the still-in-effect British warrant for the Prince's arrest were banned from being mentioned in the courtroom as Judge Ira Gammerman ruled they were irrelevant to the case. After nearly six weeks of trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict against the Prince on all but one count. The Prince and the New York Palace Hotel were ordered to pay the Derbyshires US$21 million in total. Brunei has stated it intends to appeal.
The Prince’s current legal advisor and spokesman is David Sandy, a partner at Simmons & Simmons who twice faced trial on charges of evidence tampering, and agreed not to practice as a lawyer for eighteen months in order to settle the case.