had leveled against him. [32][35], 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,[36] accusing them of stealing funds from him. And more! stars Joe Montana and Herschel Walker to Brunei, at a cost of seven figures each, to teach him the game. After finishing school, she left New Plymouth to pursue double degrees in drama and music at the University of Auckland. Along with Maggistro and Jefris Manhattan lawyer, they had arranged a meeting with the hotels managing director, John Segreti. . Hidup Bergelimang Harta, Inilah Sosok Jefri Bolkiah Adik Sultan Brunei yang Dikenal Playboy dan Suka Foya-foya. [47] The Prince and the New York Palace Hotel were ordered to pay the Derbyshires US$21 million in total. A regular at the trendy Les Mills gym in downtown Auckland, Kelly moved to Paris on her OE and got a job chaperoning the Sultan of Brunei's wives. A hotel video of Zaman rolling out two boxes at four A.M. was shown at the trial. He has had five wives, four of whom he is divorced from and 1 to whom he is still married,[7] and eighteen children[citation needed] aged between around 4 to 37 in 2008. He had to sell real estate, art, diamonds, cars, and other possessions that hadnt been disclosed to the B.I.A. Even Time and Forbes magazines failed at attempts to write a profile piece after the birth of the couple's first child. "The proceedings between the Brunei Investment Agency and HRH Prince Jefri Bolkiah came to an end in 2014 when the Investment Agency acknowledged that he had complied with all the terms of the . David Dowsey (2007). Nearly a decade ago, the Taranaki woman, now in . Four years passed, with detours through courts in London and Delaware, before a jury heard the case in New York City. Prince Jefri Bolkiah, 53, of Brunei - married to New Zealander Claire Kelly - lives with her and their two young sons in St John's Lodge, a London mansion in Regent's Park. (When the sultan flew in Whitney Houston for a performance, he is rumored to have given her a blank check and instructed her to fill it in for what she thought she was worth: more than $7 million, it turned out.) Claire was always smiling and happy and treated everyone the same. money. Few people took notice of the place until 1926, when oil was discovered there. After clearing intense security, they were escorted into a vast hall and then into a dining room with a table that could seat 50, where a battalion of servants brought out drinks and silver trays of appetizers. Later that same November, though, after the couples departure, Jefri claimed in an affidavit, he discovered that two payments totaling $1.4 million had been transferred from the New York Palace to a Wachovia Bank account, which neither hotel officers nor Prince Bahar knew anything about. His elder brother is the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. Derbyshire testified that Jefri had said it was nothing personal. But by then the prince was nowhere to be seen. Schoolfriends contacted by the Herald on Sunday were "not at all surprised" Kelly married into royalty. My duty as a subject and a Wazir was to obey any commands of His Majesty Accordingly, when His Majesty indicated in 1998 that he wished assets under my control to be transferred to the Plaintiffs [the B.I.A.] . The Zobel family is known for being quite low-key, so peeking inside the usually private world of the clan through Instagram is an experience. Jefri claimed that the sultan had authorized all withdrawals (It is inconceivable that this $40 billion could have been withdrawn without anyone having noticed it over the previous 15 years, he wrote); the sultan countered that Jefri had embezzled the money. According to legend, the House of Grimaldi - the royal family of Monaco - is victim to a 700-year-old curse that says "Never will a Grimaldi find . They raced their Ferraris through the streets of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital, at midnight, sailed the oceans on their fleet of yachts (Jefri named one of his Tits, its tenders Nipple 1 and Nipple 2), and imported planeloads of polo ponies and Argentinean players to indulge their love for that game, which they sometimes played with Prince Charles. After their first encounter was over, she wrote, he slapped her ass, bolted out of bed, and said, That was very nice for me. From her greed is good heyday to her post-divorce denouement cavorting with a series of freaky Italian lovers, it was Ivana, all along, who gilded the Trump name. Entire companies had allegedly been omitted, as had account numbers and balances for the princes multiple bank accounts. For six weeks, starting last November 8, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in Manhattan, the two sides in a most unusual trial presented equally outlandish stories. The lawyers argued that Zaman and Derbyshire had stolen nothing, and that the princes charges against them were part of an elaborate scheme to funnel money through them in all manner of nefarious ways to fuel his insatiable need for cash. by means of the special transfers. He found it in 1997, when a former Miss USA named Shannon Marketic sued Jefri and the sultan for $10 million, claiming that she and six other young women had been hired for $127,000 each to travel to Brunei for professional appearances, supposedly involving intellectual conversations with visiting dignitaries, but instead were forced to serve as sex slaves. Her passport was seized, she claimed, and she was made to undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases and to report to all-night parties where women of many nationalities, for fees spiraling up to $1 million, danced, sang karaoke, and warred for the attention of Prince Jefri in a massive disco-cum-sports-complex he had installed in his home, called Assurur Palace. Gorgeous KC is also the face of J.Cat Beauty makeup line, and a fashion-degree holder from London. By. mother: Rani Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit. The playboy Prince Jefri Bolkiah led an exorbitantly lavish lifestyle, flying in planeloads of women who he entertained and showered with gifts. I want to say it was more like $100,000 a month. As word spread of the sultans gaping wallet, merchants from all corners of the globe swarmed into Brunei, selling him practically everything they had to offer17 private jets, thousands of luxury cars, what one diamond dealer called a Smithsonian of major jewels, and a trove of art masterpieces, including a Renoir for a record $70 million. When his son Prince Hakeem wanted to learn football, Jefri imported Three years later he made him minister of finance. We may only be a few weeks into 2023, but we have already been treated to our . When he failed to respond to a British summons in 2008, the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. We have a very amicable chat, and he says he is going to his office and will be with us again in a few minutes, says Derbyshire. [28], The BIA also re-opened collateral litigation in the British High Court. Hakeem was not able to catch the ball, so a teammate would hand it to him, and he would then shuffle down the field for an easy touchdown, because no one was allowed to tackle a prince. Hotel security showed up and asked them to leave the premises. .. It was all done through his legal advisers. (In 2006, the case was decided against Jefri and in favor of the B.I.A.). In spite of being called a mini-state, Brunei is well-known around the . Back home, the sultan erected a 1,788-room palace on 49 acres, which is without equal in the world for offensive and ugly display, in the words of one British magnate, and celebrated his 50th birthday with a blowout featuring a concert by Michael Jackson, who was reportedly paid $17 million, in a stadium built for the occasion. [3] Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1997. I think so, he responded in a falsetto voice when asked if he had attorneys spread all over the world. Once, he asked me about the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade. Upon the couples divorce, the tiara returned to the Queens possession. [44][45] After nearly six weeks of trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict[46] against the Prince on all but one count. (Prince Jefris lawsuit claimed that it was Zaman and Derbyshire, not he, who suggested they be given power of attorney in order to work most effectively on his behalf. He bought mansions around the world, 1700 luxury cars, 17 aircraft, hoards of jewellery and a fleet of yachts - including a 60m superyacht he called Tits. Jefri Bolkiah's daughter's name is Hamidah Jamalul Bolkiah. It is the story the jury was not able to hear. . The brothers routinely traveled with 100-member entourages and emptied entire inventories of stores such as Armani and Versace, buying 100 suits of the same color at a time. Published on January 25, 2023 03:47 PM. . At one point, according to Derbyshire, when Jefri said he was desperate for untainted funds, Derbyshire even returned $600,000 that the prince had reimbursed him for expenses, so that Jefri could pay other lawyers who were threatening to stop their work in defending him against the sultan and the B.I.A. The jury awarded Zaman and Derbyshire $21 million in back wages and damages and allowed the couple to walk away not only with their money but also with their reputations intact. Zaman and Derbyshire say that the art was sold in Paris, where Jefri's fourth wife, the New Zealand-born Claire Kelly (who adopted the Bruneian name Madame Salma), lived with the prince in his . Zaida binti Pengarah Digadong Tuan Laman Awang Sulaiman, 12. Prince Jefri did not risk visiting London where he owns St John's Lodge, a spectacular mansion hidden behind huge gates on the Inner Circle of Regent's Park, bought in 1994 for 40 million. It was a massive wedding, says Derbyshire, who also attended that one with Zaman. Her parents owned a corner dairy - now Claire Kelly is living the lifestyle of the rich and famous as the wife of a royal billionaire. He has been raised to preside over things as a prince. According to Derbyshire, Jay became the royal hairdresser when Jefri was Bruneis minister of finance, and he flew Jay all over the world.. suits of the same color. Puan Salma binti Abdullah ne Claire Kelly fifth wife (en) dbp:succession: dbr:Ministry_of_Finance_and_Economy_(Brunei) dbp:successor: dbr:Hassanal_Bolkiah; dbp . was now the hotels legal owner and that any member of management would be held liable for any payments made outside the ordinary course of business. The feud between the brothers would turn into the worlds most expensive legal battle as the B.I.A. could fully take over. Zaman, meanwhile, claimed that the two boxes contained personal effects, most notably an urn holding the ashes of her unborn son, whom she had lost to a miscarriage during her time in the princes employ. obtained a temporary restraining order against the prince in a New York court. Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei Family Background & Career. Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1997. Hakeem and his friends showed up in brand-new uniforms, the gargantuan prince weighing 300 pounds, trailed by a valet and guarded by a state security force. Jefrida Mohammed (Divorced) Ayen Munji (Divorced) Lady Salma Abdullah nee Claire Kelly, (Third Wife) Full name; Jefri Bolkiah ibni Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III: House: House of Bolkiah: Father: Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III: Mother: Queen . However, Judge Ira Gammerman soon decreed that the case was not about the prince or his extravagant lifestyle but strictly about whether Zaman and Derbyshire had stolen money from their client. It dawned on me that I had worked for the Prince for over two years for very substantially less than I had been promised, while Prince Jefri was telling me he had no money to pay me and yet all along he had been sitting on an illicit fortune.. Crowned at the Lapau di-Raja, Brunei Town, 31 st May 1951. Worse still for the defense, the judge pronounced that this case is not about the relative wealth of the people. and to pay His Majesty the money he required by way of Special Transfers at that time [approximately $83 million a month] In these circumstances, His Majesty commanded me to transfer assets I controlled to the B.I.A.. Next assignment: representing the prince before the Brunei supreme court. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He may have an innocent demeanour, but his father Jefri Bolkiah was known as the playboy of the Brunei royal family. assets. Its about the claim that the two lawyers breached their fiduciary obligations and Im going to limit the evidence to that issue.. Derbyshire would routinely rush to the airport, where a private plane would fly him off to wherever Jefri had a lawyer, in order to sign papers, retrieve documents, or receive further instructions. [19] The Sultan was, at one time, the richest man in the world. women for several years, which included the writer Jillian Lauren, who published Some Girls: My Life in a Harem about her experiences. "If anyone was going to do it, it would be her. In order to give them full and absolute authority to act on his behalf, the prince granted them power of attorney. Launching an investigation into the B.I.A., the sultan dispatched 200 forensic accountants to examine its books and records. Geoffrey Stewart says Zaman and Derbyshire pushed Jefri to sell the hotels and set up dummy corporations to hold the money, from which Zaman would receive a commission. Anything that could be salvaged Prince Jefri instructed be moved to [another] location in Brunei, says Derbyshire. Aston Martin - 11 cars. Her modelling career took off after she signed with 62Models in the early 1990s. An official list from 2002, exposed in Jefris legal battle with his brother, details more than $17 billion in payments and presents to family, friends, V.I.P.s, and entourage, including $18 million to the father of one of the Bolkiahs wives, nearly $1.5 million to a badminton coach, and millions more to government officials, some of whom got Porsches, real estate, and jewelry. According to Derbyshire, Jefri said he intended to pay in full, as soon as funds become available. They signed the termination documents, after which, Derbyshire told the court, we were politely asked to leave., Derbyshire claimed in his affidavit that, prior to their dismissal, we were very concerned about what we had gotten ourselves into. There are three things of significant value, he said, enumerating back salaries (which, in Zamans case, included 5 percent of the gross operating profit of the New York Palace during her year as managing director) and the couples leases on the hotels private apartment and steak house, which all together Chalk valued at almost $50 million. Revising the Bruneian constitution in order to have absolute rule over his brother, the sultan, starting in 2000, froze Jefris assets through injunctionsto little effect. The trial dragged on for six weeks, giving rise to more questions than answers. Jefri didnt testify at the trial, but his lawyers, according to Fortune, presented the prince as a sucker too out of touch to notice the markups because the Manoukians had posed as close friends. In court, the Manoukians described Jefris sex parties at home and abroad. Its very hard to move that stuff., On April 17, 2005, Jefris oldest daughter, Princess Hamidah, was married in Brunei to Jefris sisters son, her first cousin. Susannah Cahalan. Caught in a feud between the prince and the sultan, they ended up in a court battle over $23 million. He had presided over Woody Allens 2002 civil case against his former producer Jean Doumanian, and when Allen attempted to respond to a question with a rambling answer, Gammerman interrupted him midsentence, barking, Stop talking Im the director here. 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