Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Mansion Sold to Oligarch Linked to Bribery for £15 Million
An investigation by the BBC has uncovered that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sold his previous mansion for £15 million to a Kazakh oligarch, Timur Kulibayev, using money tied to a firm implicated in criminal corruption. Kulibayev communicated through lawyers that a loan from Enviro Pacific Investments was used for purchasing the mansion, Sunninghill Park, in Berkshire, from the then prince.
Enviro Pacific Investments was identified by Italian prosecutors as having received funds from a bribery scheme in 2007. Shortly after the last payments, Kulibayev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's then-president, bought Sunninghill Park with these funds. Although Kulibayev’s legal team denies any involvement in bribery or corruption, these developments question whether Andrew inadvertently profited from illicit funds and if he conducted the necessary legal checks to prevent such an occurrence.
Money laundering expert Tom Keatinge highlighted that the deal showed "blatant red flags" demanding further scrutiny as Kulibayev paid £3 million over the asking price and about £7 million over market value. Andrew did not respond to the BBC's inquiries but commented to the Daily Telegraph in 2009 that his responsibility ended once the payment was made.
Sunninghill Park: From a Wedding Gift to Controversial Sale
Sunninghill Park, a 12-bedroom mansion gifted to Andrew by the Queen for his 1986 wedding, was initially mocked for its resemblance to a Tesco superstore. Unable to sell the property after listing it in 2001, Andrew personally attempted to market it in Bahrain in 2003 as the UK's trade envoy. Ultimately, a buyer connected through his Kazakh associations came forward.
Andrew has had ties with Kazakhstan since becoming a patron of the British-Kazakh Society alongside President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2002. The two met at Buckingham Palace in 2006, and by 2007, Kulibayev, with a wealth exceeding £1 billion and a prominent position in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector, made an offer through his offshore company, Unity Asse'. Kulibayev's purchase was facilitated by Kazakh businesswoman and socialite Goga Ashkenazi, a close acquaintance of Andrew’s at the time who introduced them.