ENRC billionaire was on 'sex yacht' seized by Turkey
One of the billionaires behind London-listed ENRC was on the yacht seized by Turkish authorities after allegations of a sex party and underage prostitution on board.
By Richard Orange and Rowena Mason
Published: 6:00AM BST 13 Oct 2010
The 400ft Savarona yacht was seized by Turkish authorities in September Photo: ALAMY
A spokesman for Alexander Mashkevich, who co-founded the FTSE 100 miner and still owns 14.6pc of the company, confirmed to The Daily Telegraph yesterday that the businessman was present on the boat but not one of those arrested. "He was on board," said Roman Spektor, the Kazakhstani billionaire's spokesman.
"From our perspective he wasn't involved in any immoral or criminal actions. It's a real provocation. It's a real dirty lie in order to discredit him, because he's a well-known member of the worldwide Jewish community." There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Mashkevich, but the revelation is likely to be a further headache for ENRC, as the £12bn mining giant battles concerns over its corporate governance.
Institutional investors last month questioned its judgement in buying mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had earlier been seized from a rival. Mr Mashkevich, who is estimated to be worth £1.9bn, is one of three extremely powerful Kazakh businessmen known as the "Trio" who together control 44pc of ENRC.
Kahraman Sadikoglu, the owner of the 400ft Savarona yacht seized by authorities in late September, said Mr Mashkevich and other businessmen had flown into Turkey on a private jet for a party on the vessel. He said a number of girls arrived on a separate jet from Kazakhstan. When the yacht was confiscated, eight women and two underage girls were taken for health checks in the Mediterranean city of Antalya.
Ten people, including two women, were arrested. Tevfik Ari, a New York real estate mogul and friend of Donald Trump, was among those detained. The yacht's owner charged $50,000 per day to rent the businessmen his vessel, which was formerly owned by Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and often chartered by Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed.
Mr Sadikoglu said he did not know whether the girls on board were prostitutes but said they had been described as girlfriends and were the same ones who attended a party three weeks before. He denied that any of them were underage. He said the party spent around $45,000 a day in wine, with the average bottle costing $1,500, adding that senior members of the Kazakh government also attended parties.
Mr Sadikoglu said there were eight Brazilian dancers, three belly-dancers and six bodyguards but said it was not a "sex party". He said "This is their private charter agreement. The name is 'private charter' - they can do whatever they like, they can do what they want." Mr Mashkevich's spokesman said he would put out a formal statement once the Turkish authorities have finished their investigation. ENRC declined to comment.
