Monaco Government ‘Favored’ Prince’s Nephews, Official Testified
In a police interview, a member of a government committee that picked a company belonging to Albert’s nephews for a state contract said the outcome was “predetermined.” Albert and his nephews have denied wrongdoing.
Prince Albert II of Monaco arrives for a banquet in 2019.
Photographer: Pierre Emmanuel Deletree/SIPAFor the past five years, a criminal inquiry in Monaco has quietly sought to answer a delicate question: Did the government of Prince Albert II improperly award a state contract to the ruler’s two nephews?
As Bloomberg Businessweek reported last year, the probe has uncovered evidence that a government official opened a back channel with the nephews’ helicopter company, Monacair, giving it precise details about what it needed to do in order to win the rights to an important route, while a top palace official worked on their behalf before and after the contract was signed.