Prince Andrew asked by US to testify in Jeffrey
Epstein sex case
1 hour ago
The Duke of
York has been requested by the US authorities to testify about his relationship
with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC has been told.
It was
first reported in the Sun that the US Department of Justice had made a formal
request to speak to Prince Andrew as part of its Epstein inquiry.
He has been
heavily criticised for his friendship with the US financier.
The duke
has previously said he did not witness any suspicious behaviour during visits
to Epstein's homes.
Prince
Andrew stepped away from royal duties last year following a widely-criticised
BBC interview about his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a
US jail cell in August, aged 66, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and
conspiracy charges.
BBC royal
correspondent Jonny Dymond said the BBC had confirmed the reports that the US
authorities had submitted a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request to the Home
Office - although this has not been confirmed by the US Department of Justice
or the UK Home Office.
Under the
terms of a MLA request if Prince Andrew does not voluntarily respond, he can be
called to a UK court to answer questions.
Our
correspondent said the duke's legal team was bitterly unhappy about the leaking
of the request, with a source describing it as "an extraordinary breach of
confidentiality".
A full
statement is expected later with details about Prince Andrew's cooperation with
US legal authorities.
MLA
requests by other states are used to obtain assistance in an investigation or
prosecution of criminal offences, generally when cooperation cannot be obtained
by law enforcement agencies.
According
to Home Office guidance, it is "usual policy" that the existence of a
request is neither confirmed or denied.
Six things
we learned from Prince Andrew interview
In his
interview with the BBC's Newsnight programme in November 2019, the duke said he
did not regret his friendship with Epstein, despite the financier having been
convicted of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution in 2008.
He also
denied having sex with Virginia Giuffre, when she was a teenager, who said she
was trafficked by Epstein when she was 17.
Shortly
after the interview was broadcast, Prince Andrew said he was "willing to
help any appropriate law enforcement agency".
He was
criticised in January by the US prosecutor in charge of the investigation into
Epstein - Geoffrey Berman - who said the prince had provided "zero
co-operation" to the investigators.
Prince Andrew 'offered to help Jeffrey Epstein
prosecutors'
18 minutes
ago/ Posted at 17:25
The Duke of
York offered to help US officials on "at least three occasions" in
the inquiry into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his lawyers say.
US
authorities have previously accused Prince Andrew of not cooperating with the
investigation.
But the
duke's representatives suggested the US Department of Justice was seeking
publicity rather than accepting the offer of help.
The duke
has been heavily criticised for his friendship with Epstein.
He has
previously said he did not witness any suspicious behaviour during visits to
Epstein's homes.
Prince
Andrew's legal team has hit back at allegations from the US prosecutor in
charge of the investigation into Epstein that the duke had provided "zero
co-operation" to the Department of Justice (DoJ).
In a
statement, the legal team said: "The Duke of York has on at least three
occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DoJ.
"Unfortunately,
the DoJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own
confidentiality rules and claiming that the duke has offered zero cooperation.
In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the
assistance proffered."
Prince
Andrew stepped away from royal duties last year following a widely-criticised
BBC interview about his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a
US jail cell in August, aged 66, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and
conspiracy charges.
Prince Andrew in war of words with US prosecutors
over Epstein
Row centres on whether Duke of York has cooperated
with investigation into child sex offender
Owen
Bowcott and Amy Walker
Mon 8 Jun
2020 23.59 BSTFirst published on Mon 8 Jun 2020 16.44 BST
‘The Duke
of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a
witness to the DoJ,’ the legal statement on behalf of the prince began.
Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images
Prince
Andrew has become embroiled in a war of words with US prosecutors investigating
the disgraced financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lawyers for
the Duke of York issued a statement on Monday accusing the American
investigators of misleading the public and breaching their own confidentiality
rules in their handling of the inquiry.
Blackfords,
the London-based criminal law specialists, alleged in a strongly worded
two-page statement that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had effectively
rejected three offers of help volunteered by the prince this year.
The firm
noted that the DoJ had “advised us that the duke is not and has never been a
‘target’ of their criminal investigations into Epstein” and that they had
instead sought his confidential, voluntary cooperation.
Geoffrey
Berman, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, responded by
publicly accusing Andrew of trying to “falsely portray himself to the public as
eager and willing to co-operate” and said a request to schedule an interview
had been repeatedly declined.
The
Blackfords statement followed media reports that US authorities had formally
requested the prince answer questions on the matter. On Monday the US attorney
general, William Barr, stated there were no plans to extradite the prince.
Asked
during a Fox News interview on Monday whether the US has officially asked
Britain to hand over Andrew, Barr said: “I don’t think it’s a question of
handing him over. I think it’s just a question of having him provide some
evidence.” Asked if the prince would be extradited, Barr said “no”.
Epstein was
found dead in a New York prison cell last year where he was being held on
charges of sex-trafficking girls as young as 14. The prince had known the
billionaire since 1999 and stayed at several of his residences.
Andrew has
been accused of having sex with a young woman provided by Epstein, Virginia
Giuffre, when she was 17 – a claim he categorically denies. In November the
prince was interviewed by the Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis about his
relationship with the disgraced financier.
His remarks
sparked a public backlash, and a few days later Andrew issued a statement
saying that he would “step back from public duties for the foreseeable future”.
The prince,
who has always denied any wrongdoing, added: “I continue to unequivocally
regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein ... Of course, I am
willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their
investigations, if required.”
However, in
January, Berman gave a public statement implying there had been “zero
cooperation” with the investigation from Prince Andrew. In March, Berman
claimed the duke had “completely shut the door” on cooperating with the US
investigation.
On Monday,
Blackfords hit back, saying in a statement: “The Duke of York has on at least
three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DoJ.
Unfortunately, the DoJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their
own confidentiality rules and claiming that the duke has offered zero
cooperation. In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than
accepting the assistance proffered.
“On 27
January 2020, Mr Geoffrey S Berman, the United States attorney for the southern
district of New York, chose to make a public statement about the duke. This led
to worldwide media reports that there had been ‘a wall of silence’ and that
there had been ‘zero co-operation’ by the duke. These statements were
inaccurate, and they should not have been made.
“On 9 March
2020, Mr Berman made further public statements saying that the duke had
‘completely shut the door’ on cooperating with the US investigation and that
they are now ‘considering’ further options. Again, the first statement was
inaccurate and should not have been made.”
The
statement added: “It is a matter of regret that the DoJ has seen fit to breach
its own rules of confidentiality, not least as they are designed to encourage
witness cooperation. Far from our client acting above the law, as has been
implied by press briefings in the US, he is being treated by a lower standard
than might reasonably be expected for any other citizen. Further, those same
breaches of confidentiality by the DoJ have given the global media – and,
therefore, the worldwide audience – an entirely misleading account of our
discussions with them.”
Later on
Monday, Berman issued his own public statement in response, saying: “Today,
Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as
eager and willing to cooperate with an ongoing federal criminal investigation
into sex trafficking and related offences committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his
associates, even though the prince has not given an interview to federal
authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to schedule such an interview
and nearly four months ago informed us unequivocally – through the very same
counsel who issued today’s release – that he would not come in for such an
interview.
“If Prince
Andrew is, in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal
investigation, our doors remain open and we await word of when we should expect
him.”
A
Department of Justice spokesperson in the US said it “does not publicly comment
on communications with foreign governments on investigative matters, including
confirming or denying the very existence of such communications”.
Prince Andrew charity broke law by paying trustee
£350,000
Watchdog publishes highly critical report after charitable
trust is required to return cash
The watchdog’s damning report delivers a further blow
to Prince Andrew.
Owen
Bowcott
@owenbowcott
Published
onTue 9 Jun 2020 15.36 BST
A
charitable trust supporting the work of Prince Andrew has been required to
return more than £350,000 in payments made to a trustee after a public watchdog
intervened.
The Charity
Commission has revealed the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust broke the law by
handing over large sums to the prince’s household to compensate for time spent
on other activities by one of his employees.
The problem
emerged last year following publicity over the prince’s interview on BBC
Newsnight about his friendship with the disgraced financier and convicted
paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The highly critical report is a further blow to his
position.
Examination
of the charity’s accounts and records identified “issues of concern that
required attention”, according to a lengthy statement by the commission
released on Tuesday.
“As a
result of this work, £355,297 has been returned to the charity, which will be
redistributed towards causes in line with the charity’s purposes. The current
trustees acted to rectify this matter once it was identified by the
commission.”
The Prince
Andrew Charitable Trust – which supported his charitable work in the areas of
education, entrepreneurship, science, technology and engineering – has notified
the commission that it intends to wind up. Remaining funds will be distributed
to charities with similar objectives.
Helen
Earner, the commission’s director of operations, said: “Charity is special –
with unpaid trusteeship a defining characteristic of the sector. By allowing
the payment of a trustee via its subsidiaries the Prince Andrew Charitable
Trust breached charity law and by insufficiently managing the resulting
conflict of interest from this payment the trustees did not demonstrate the
behaviour expected of them.
“We’re glad
that concerns we identified are now resolved, after the charity acted quickly
and efficiently to rectify these matters. The recovered funds will now go
towards the causes intended, and we will continue to work with the trustees as
they wind up the charity.”
The trustee
was paid by the charity’s three trading subsidiary companies as a director of
those companies. The payments were for work carried out for the trading
subsidiaries over a five-year period from 2015.
The
commission added: “Trustees cannot be paid to act as directors of a subsidiary
company, unless there is authority from the charity’s governing document or the
payments are authorised by the commission or the court, none of which were in
place at the charity.
“Trustees
also have a duty to act with reasonable care and skill, taking account of any
special knowledge, skill or professional status. This board of trustees, which
included a lawyer, was expected to have had the knowledge and experience to act
in accordance with charity law.”
The
commission said the charity could not “show that conflicts of interest relating
to the payments received by a trustee were managed adequately at trustee
meetings”.
Other
problems identified included that:
·
There
was no standalone conflicts of interest policy at the charity for trustees to
refer to.
·
Open
and fair competition was not conducted before the trustee was appointed to the
roles at the charity’s subsidiaries.
·
No
evidence was obtained to demonstrate that these payments to the trustee
provided value for money for the charity.
The
commission’s report has been released amid a war of words between US
prosecutors and the prince’s lawyers over his cooperation with the
investigation into Epstein’s activities.
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