Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, has let it be known that she does not intend to repay a “brand ambassador” fee of some $300,000 that she received via a company alleged to be a front for money laundering. Sarah received the money from a company called Alphabet Capital which British High Court documents claim was a front for alleged conman Selman Turk to move money. Ferguson is said to have regraded Turk as a “perfectly bona fide banker” whom she knew through her husband. The Daily Mail, quoting sources apparently familiar with Sarah’s thinking, said that Ferguson’s position is that the payment is for her work as a “brand ambassador” for U.S. green energy company Pegasus Group Holdings. The Mail says that the money was a fee for her work, “but was offered in installments rather than a single payment. Turk was ‘suggested as someone who would take on the debt and pay the duchess’ in full, with Pegasus then paying him in installments.” Andrew received close to $1 million from Turk, which was described as a gift to help pay for his daughter’s wedding, but was revealed in court documents to have come from Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, 76, a Turkish woman who says she was tricked by Turk into believing she was helping her husband get get a new passport to escape persecution. Andrew has repaid the money.
