Prince's Case Is About Alleged Overcharges by His Lawyers, Not Sex or Harem, Judge Says
Limiting the evidence that can be introduced in an ongoing trial over alleged overcharging by the prince of Brunei’s lawyers, a New York judge today nixed as inadmissible both life-size statues of Prince Jefri Bolkiah having sex with a girlfriend and information about his many wives and harem, reports the New York Post.
“This case is not about sex,” Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Ira Gammerman. “It might have been much more interesting if it was.”
It is, however, still of significant interest as the prince—who has, a filing claims, has spent some $60 million in a court battle over perhaps $6 million—seeks to recover from the husband-and-wife team of British lawyers he contends fleeced him and two Bruneian companies of far more than the $2 million-plus annually that he agreed to pay them.
The prince’s suit says the lawyers breached their fiduciary duty by siphoning millions from him after the sale of his 23-room mansion on Long Island, according to the Post article. Thomas Derbyshire and Faith Zaman are accused of overcharging by some $2 million for plasma television sets they purchased for Prince Jefri’s five-star hotel, the New York Palace, and renting themselves a 2,600-square-foot apartment there for $500 per month, among other alleged wrongdoing including excessive personal expenditures on luxuries.
The British barristers deny that they behaved badly and say they charged expenses about which the prince’s lawsuit also complains in order to provide for him and his two sons, New York magazine reports.
They also contend that the lawsuit was filed in an attempt to cover up the prince’s own fiscal mismanagement, the New York Times reports.
A lawyer for Zaman, Mark Cymrot, says in a court filing that “the plaintiffs have spent more than $60 million to litigate a case where the amount in dispute is one-tenth of that,” reports the New York Daily News.
A 2008 Delaware Court of Chancery opinion (PDF) describes the work it says Prince Jefri paid the two barristers at least $2 million a year to perform for him, while he was still their client.
Related coverage:
Daily Mail (2006): “Lawyer accused of £11m swindle in High Court clash with prince”
Telegraph: “Brunei prince spent £37 million attempting to recover £4 million.”
