Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie Named in Fraud Case Tied to Prince Andrew

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are caught up in their father Prince Andrew's latest scandal.

In a High Court case, Turkish millionaire Nebahat Evyap Isbilen claims that she entrusted her financial advisor Selman Turk with £67 million, including payments to Prince Andrew totaling more than £1 million, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson for £225,000 and his daughter Princess Eugenie for £25,000, according to The Telegraph.

Included in the money paid to Queen Elizabeth's son was a payment of £750,000 made in November 2019, days after Turk won a prize at Prince Andrew's Shark Tank-style Pitch@Palace competition for entrepreneurs, according to the complaint.

Isbilen says she believed the payment was for the prince's assistance with obtaining a new passport after she fled the country, where her husband is imprisoned. However, Turk and Prince Andrew's office allegedly later told her bankers that the sum was a "wedding gift" for Princess Beatrice, who married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020.

When Andrew was contacted about the payment by Isbilen's lawyers in March 2021, he returned the £750,000, according to court documents.

Buckingham Palace had no comment when reached by PEOPLE, while a representative for the Duke of York tells PEOPLE that they are unable to comment on an ongoing legal case.

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Sarah Ferguson/Instagram Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew and Princess Eugenie

According to The Telegraph, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are not believed to have had any knowledge of their parents' dealings with Turk, nor knowingly corresponded with him.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Princess Eugenie said: "On 31 March 2022 I received a letter from solicitors Peters & Peters representing their client Nebahat Evyap Isbilen in her claim against a Mr Selman Turk, and various companies. I know neither Mrs Isbilen nor Mr Turk (nor any other details of the claim) and I was surprised to receive this letter, which asked me to explain two payments made to my bank account in October 2019, which I understood to be gifts from a long-standing family friend to assist with the cost of a surprise party for my mother, Sarah, Duchess of York's sixtieth birthday.

Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice

"In early October 2019 I had received a call from our family friend saying that he wanted to make a financial contribution towards my mother's birthday party to assist with the catering costs. I suggested that any contribution could be made directly to the caterers, but in the event provided my account details to which two payments were made totalling £25,000, which I then transferred on to the company organising my mother's party.

"I am now consulting with my lawyers who I have asked to respond to Peters & Peters on my behalf to assist in their inquiries."

A representative for Fergie tells PEOPLE in a statement: "The Duchess was completely unaware of the allegations that have since emerged against Mr Turk. She is naturally concerned by what has been alleged against him."

Fergie had been working as a brand ambassador for a green energy company called Pegasus, which agreed to pay her £225,000. They wanted to pay her in installments, but she preferred to have a lump sum. In a statement to PEOPLE, Fergie's representative said that Turk, who was a banker who had been introduced to Sarah by her ex-husband, stepped in and said he could pay her in the interim and he would take on the debt from Pegasus. While Fergie is concerned about what has emerged, her representatives say she believed him to be a fit and proper person to deal with at the time, a source close to her says.

STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP

It is the latest scandal to engulf Prince Andrew, In February, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in her sexual assault lawsuit against the royal, the amount of which is not being disclosed.

Giuffre alleges she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions when she was 17. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The attorneys' joint statement did not address the question of Prince Andrew's liability.

"Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights," the settlement document stated. "Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks."

getty Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew

Earlier this year, Prince Andrew also settled his debt on a ski lodge in the Swiss resort of Verbier.

Former owner Isabelle de Rouvre sold the home to Prince Andrew and Fergie in 2014, but there was a dispute regarding a final payment of their share, which totaled $9 million with accrued interest. According to de Rouvre, she sold the property to the couple and made an agreement in November.

"The war is finished. It is the end of the matter," she told the Daily Mail. "I have nothing to do with it now. That's all."