What a rum bunch to be hobnobbing with Britain’s future King!
A REMARKABLE cast of wealthy individuals from around the world have donated funds to the Prince’s Foundation.
As Prince Charles faces intense scrutiny over how he has raised money, The Mail on Sunday highlights some of the colourful characters who have provided financial support to the future king.
THE EX SAUDI SPY CHIEF: TURKI BIN FAISAL AL SAUD
A FORMER director general of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency and later its ambassador to Britain, Turki Bin Faisal al Saud has been photographed arm-in-arm with Charles and between September 2004 and October 2005 served as a director of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, an arm of the Prince’s Foundation.
But Turki, 76, has a chequered past. In 2002, two years before he was appointed director at the school, he was named in a multibillion-pound lawsuit by families of 9/11 victims, alleging that he was among a group of Saudi princes who may have funded terrorists involved in the attack.
Turki has repeatedly and vociferously denied the claims, insisting he had had no contact with Osama Bin Laden since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. In 2005, he described al-Qaeda as ‘an evil cult’.
THE BILLIONAIRE DEALER: WAFIC SAID
THE Syrian-born Saudi billionaire was recognised as a ‘founding supporter’ during the restoration of Dumfries House, but he is also known as a middleman who profited from Britain’s ‘Al-Yamamah’ arms deal which involved the multibillion-pound sale of fighter jets and warships to Saudi Arabia.
A major investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of corruption surrounding the deal were dropped amid claims the SFO had bowed to political pressure.
In 2009, Mr Said, pictured, was at the centre of claims that he had allegedly exploited a loophole to make donations to the Conservatie Party via his wife, which he strongly denies. Said, whose homes around the world include Tusmore Park, a 3,000-acre estate in Oxfordshire, had previously given donations to the Tories. Between 2004 and 2006, Said reportedly gave £550,000 to the party at auctions.
‘$1M IN HIS UNDERWEAR’: TIMUR KUANYSHEV
KAZAKH oil magnate Timur and his wife Alfiya are prominent supporters of the Prince’s Foundation with a craft and skills centre named in their honour.
At Dumfries House, the ‘resplendent Blue Drawing Room’ was also ‘generously funded’ by the couple.
But they are perhaps better known for being arrested in Moscow in 1993 allegedly with $1million in their underwear. The pair were never prosecuted.
DAMNED BY AN AMERICAN JUDGE: CEM UZAN
ALMOST £400,000 was donated by the Turkish businessman to the Prince’s Foundation in 2003, but the tycoon hit the headlines after being convicted for conning telephone firm Motorola in an elaborate loan scam. Mr Uzan was sentenced to 15 months’ jail by a High Court judge in 2002 after failing to attend a hearing into allegations that he failed to repay £2billion of loans. The 60year-old and his wife Alara had been among the Prince’s Foundation’s most prominent supporters. In June 2000, Mrs Uzan sat next to Charles at a dinner to celebrate the setting up of the Foundation.
In 2003, a US District Court condemned the couple, saying: ‘The proof is very strong that the Uzans are business imperialists of the worst kind, in that they will go to any lengths, including fraud and racketeering, to preserve their business empire.’
Two years later, the Prince’s Foundation concluded it would not return the £400,000 donation.
In 2009, Mr Uzan was granted political asylum in France. He was later indicted for racketeering in Turkey and sentenced in absentia to 23 years in prison.
LAUNDERING ROW RUSSIAN: RUBEN VARDANYAN
AN ARMENIAN-born Russian businessman, 53-year-old Ruben Vardanyan donated $100,000 to the Prince’s Foundation in 2009 and has been pictured with Charles at Dumfries House.
In 2010, he attended an event celebrating Armenia and its culture at Windsor Castle, but it later emerged that an arm of Troika Dialog, a private investment bank that he ran, acted as a financial Laundromat, allegedly shuffling billions through offshore companies on behalf of Russia’s elite.
Mr Vardanyan insists he knew nothing about the scheme and was not involved in the operations, management or activities of the wealth management arm of Troika Dialog Group. His donations to the Prince’s Foundation were made from his personal funds.
ACCUSED OF BRIBERY: PRINCE AL WALEED
THE billionaire, philanthropist and royal is a ‘core fund patron’ of the Prince’s Foundation, but he has also courted controversy in his native Saudi Arabia where in 2017 he was arrested on allegations of money laundering, bribery and extorting officials.
A nephew of King Salman, his arrest was seen by many as a politically motivated bid by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to tighten his grip on power. Prince Al Waleed was released in 2018 after three months in detention following a financial settlement.