Andrew sold £15m Sunninghill Park to Kazakh buyer reported to have used bribery-linked funds

An investigation reports that Prince Andrew sold Sunninghill Park in 2007 to Timur Kulibayev for £15 million and that part of the purchase was funded via a company prosecutors say was linked to bribe payments. Kulibayev denies wrongdoing, has not been charged, and his lawyers say the funds were legitimate.

Prince Andrew (Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor), the former Duke of York, sold Sunninghill Park in Berkshire in 2007 for £15 million to businessman Timur Kulibayev. A recent investigation reports that some of the money used to part-fund that purchase came via an offshore company that Italian prosecutors later linked to bribery in oil contracts. Kulibayev has consistently denied any involvement in bribery and has not been charged. His lawyers say the funds for the purchase were legitimate and that they will take legal action over the reporting. Known details: - The sale of Sunninghill Park took place in 2007 for £15 million and was carried out via an offshore trust called Unity Assets Corporation. - Investigators say Enviro Pacific Investments, a British Virgin Islands company, partly funded the purchase; Italian prosecutors later alleged payments from a firm used to channel bribes went to Enviro Pacific. - In a 2017 Monza case an Italian executive, Agostino Bianchi, pleaded guilty to bribing Kazakh officials; judges in that matter described corrupt payments linked to public contracts, but Kulibayev was not charged. - Milan proceedings that referenced payments were dismissed in January 2017 after prosecutors could not definitively link the payments to specific contracts or identify beneficiaries. - There is no evidence reported that Prince Andrew knew where the buyer had sourced the funds; his lawyers and Buckingham Palace have been contacted and Kulibayev’s lawyers say the transaction was properly documented. Summary: The reporting links the 2007 sale to later Italian allegations about bribery-related payments to firms connected to the buyer, while noting that Kulibayev denies wrongdoing and has not faced charges. Milan proceedings related to the payments were dismissed in 2017 and Kulibayev’s lawyers say they will pursue legal action over the reporting. Undetermined at this time.