British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported that Prince Charles met with Bruno Wang (汪家興), a Taiwanese fugitive who describes himself as a Chinese philanthropist and donated ￡500,000 (US$683,522) to the prince’s charity, the Prince’s Foundation.
The newspaper reported that Wang is wanted in Taiwan on charges related to money laundering and being a fugitive from justice, allegations he denies, and drew comparisons between Wang and the Russian banker Dmitry Leus.
Investigation and cooperation with foreign authorities have found that Bruno Wang’s father, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), had stashed proceeds from a scandal involving the procurement of Lafayette frigates in 61 bank accounts, mainly in Switzerland, as well as in accounts owned by his family in banks in about a dozen countries and territories, Ministry of Justice officials have said.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
Leus was likewise accused of money laundering and made a donation of ￡500,000 to the foundation. His conviction was overturned.
Prince Charles “met at least nine times” with William Bortrick, the alleged fixer at the heart of the claims, who is said to have received thousands of pounds to secure an honor for a Saudi Arabian billionaire and brokered a personal thank you letter from Charles to a Russian donor, the Sunday Times reported.
The Russian banker reportedly received two invitations to private events at Charles’ royal residences in Scotland, allegedly secured by Bortrick. They were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the donor’s past.
In the summer last year, Charles, 72, and Bortrick, 48, met at the Castle of Mey, the late queen mother’s former home in Caithness, the newspaper reported.
Weeks before the meeting, Bortrick had brokered a six-figure donation to the charity from Leus in exchange for a meeting with the prince, the newspaper reported.
He received a ￡5,000 cut of the donation for “expenses,” it reported.
A spokesperson for Bruno Wang, who lives in the Cayman Islands, said he was never involved in the original Lafayette transaction.
He said: “These 30-year-old accusations in Taiwan against his deceased father are politically motivated and without foundation. When they were made about his father before the Cayman court in 2014, the Honourable Chief Justice Anthony Smellie dismissed them as not only ‘wholly unintelligible,’ but ‘scandalous and vexatious.’”
“Bruno is committed to supporting charitable endeavors that promote art, wellness and social inclusion,” he added.
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