The Sultan of Brunei - one of the world's richest men - has failed in his attempt to have younger brother, Prince Jefri, jailed in Britain in a family feud over £8 billion.
Prince Jefri Bolkiah won a key victory in Britain's High Court last week in a five-year battle that has exposed the extraordinarily extravagant lifestyles of the brothers.
Jefri, 51, has been accused by his brother Sultan Hassanal, 59, of embezzling £8 billion from the Brunei Investment Authority (BIA) during his 13 years as Finance Minister of the oil-rich country.
The dispute was resolved with an out-of-court settlement in May 2000. As part of the settlement Prince Jefri, who has homes in London, New York and Paris, agreed to hand over £3 billion of his assets, which were sold during a four-day auction in London in 2001.
But the Sultan was not content with the sale - which included 400 Victorian lamp-posts, two unused Mercedes-Benz fire engines, several hundred Louis XIV gilt chairs, a fleet of forklift trucks, jewellery and 16,000 tonnes of Italian marble.
He began new court proceedings in London, where Prince Jefri spends most of the year, to try to force him to disclose the scale of his wealth.
But last week the Sultan admitted defeat in the legal battle, which had accumulated £1 million in fees.p
rince Jefri, who has not spoken to the Sultan for two years, will now try to clear his name, arguing that the acquisition of assets was made with his brother's knowledge and with his full authority and approval.
A spokesman for the Prince, who fears that he would be arrested if he returned to Brunei, told Britain's The Times newspaper: 'He has tried to talk to his brother but his overtures have been rebuffed. He would love the opportunity to sit down to try to resolve their differences.'
Copyright 2006 BANG Media International
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