Prince Andrew reported to the POLICE after ‘using fake name’ amid saga around private investments company
Prince Andrew has been reported to police and accused of using a false name to register a company.
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when he founded Naples Gold Limited with sports retail magnate Johan Eliasch in 2002.
Now Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, a campaign group against the monarchy, has filed a complaint with Scotland Yard accusing the prince of using false information in documents filed with Companies House.
The Metropolitan Police is currently assessing the report to determine whether further action is required.
Mr Smit told it The Telegraph that Andrew ‘should be held to the highest standards’ and ‘the royals appear to believe they can act with impunity’.
Andrew has used the pseudonym for four companies registered with Companies House.
It is believed to be derived from one of his lesser known titles, the Earl of Inverness, which was given to him by Elizabeth II in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson.
Mr Smith said: ‘The apparent submission of false information to Companies House may seem trivial, but Britain is facing serious cases of fraud committed in this way. While no such fraud is alleged here, Andrew should still be held to the highest standards.”
MailOnline has contacted the Duke of York for comment.
Prince Andrew (pictured at King Charles’ coronation in May 2022) has been reported to police and charged with using a false name to register a company
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when he founded Naples Gold Limited with sports retail magnate Johan Eliasch in 2002 (pictured together at Royal Ascot in 2019)
Prince Andrew attends the Endurance event on day three of the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Great Park on May 12, 2017
It emerged on Sunday that the company that managed Andrew’s private investments had closed down.
Urramoor Limited, over which Andrew had ‘significant control’, has applied to be struck off and dissolved, according to documents filed at Companies House last week.
It comes just a year after the investment company was bailed out by a mystery donor.
Urramoor somehow secured £210,000 in funding in the form of non-redeemable shares in December 2023, documents filed at the time showed.
The company was £208,000 in the red before receiving the money from an anonymous source.
Prince Andrew initially established the investment fund under the name HRH Andrew Inverness in 2013.
It was founded about 18 months after he was stripped of his role as trade envoy due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
But the company has failed to make any profit in the nine sets of accounts it has filed since its inception.
The decision to close Urramoor was signed by the company’s director, Arthur Lancaster, on January 3.
The news comes just days after it was revealed that more than £230,000 had been raised from the Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style initiative Pitch@Palace – which is also run by Mr Lancaster.
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, home of Prince Andrew the Duke of York
It comes after it emerged that the firm that managed Andrew’s private investments, Urramoor Limited, had applied to be struck off and dissolved
The Duke of York speaks at a Pitch@Palace event – the scheme has been set up to support entrepreneurs
During the financial year to March 31, 2024, the amount of cash on hand and in the bank at the company fell by half, from £454,979 to £220,990.
The accounts, filed at Companies House on December 30, show the withdrawal was signed by Mr Lancaster on behalf of the board.
However, it is unclear what the money was used for and to whom it was paid.
It comes amid concerns over the future of the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace scheme, after a former boss of the company emerged as an alleged spy.
Yang Tengbo, 50, was named founder of the program’s business in China and has been described as a “close confidant” of the Duke of York.
Mr Yang is suspected by the security services of having ties to the United Front Work Department [UFWD] – the secretive branch of the Chinese government that organizes Beijing’s cultural influences abroad.
In 2021, he was banned from entering Britain for the first time under anti-terror laws. His devices were confiscated. Documents were later recovered showing his links to Andrew.
He was taken off a flight to London in 2023, with then Home Secretary Suella Braverman upholding the decision to revoke his residency rights in March that year as it would be ‘conducive to the public interest’.
Mr Yang has said allegations that he is a spy are “baseless” and “completely untrue”, adding: “The political climate has changed, and unfortunately I have been a victim of this.
“If relations are good and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in Britain. If relations deteriorate, an anti-China stance will be taken and I will be expelled.”