Brunei playboy prince fights to keep erotic statues private
newyorkpost
Published Nov 8 2010
Amid a courtroom drama that rocks the Brunei royal family, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the brother of the Sultan of Brunei, has attempted to block a New York jury from seeing life-sized statues of himself having sex.
Lawyers for Prince Jefri - known as the playboy prince in Brunei - have asked the judge overseeing his upcoming civil trial against his former attorneys to ban the jury from seeing pictures of the "erotic statues" he kept on his US$11 million Long Island estate.
The New York Post reports that Mark Cymrot, the lawyer for the British attorneys, said there are four statues in all - which Prince Jefri had commissioned from renowned artist J. Seward Johnson. One depicts the prince, another is of one of his fiancees, and the other two are "graphic" depictions of them having sex.
Cymrot maintains they are important pieces of evidence for his clients, Thomas Derbyshire and Faith Zaman - whom Prince Jefri accused of having swindled him out of millions while working for him between 2004 and 2006. The husband and wife lawyer team however, claimed it was the prince who did not pay them accordingly. Prince Jefri is reportedly not as rich as he used to be. His powerful big brother, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah sued him for allegedly looting close to US$15 billion while serving as Brunei's finance minister.
The Sultan also disapproved of his brother's heavy partying lifestyle - blowing money on US$750,000 Jaguars, an Airbus jet, a Sikorsky helicopter, gold-plated toilet brushes, harems, and a yacht Prince Jefri named "Tits". The princes have since reconciled. But Prince Jefri had to give up his interest in some of the family's estates around the world.
In his court filings, Prince Jefri says the jury need not know about his private life. He wants Judge Ira Gammerman to bar evidence regarding the "alleged embezzlement," his wealth, and his personal life - including how many wives he has. "As a Muslim, Prince Jefri was entitled to have multiple wives and families, and he did so," his court file stated.
