Mayfair Development: More Angst Caused by Brunei’s Sultan?

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is one of a handful of super-rich autocratic leaders that make no secret of their absolute power. Monarch, Prime Minister, Minister for Defence, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, he faces negligible local opposition in the tiny country of Brunei, where he rules from a golden throne with an iron fist.

Indeed, Sultan Bolkiah remains one of London’s wealthiest property owners, with his real estate making millions but believed to be largely held in offshore structures that pay no tax money to HMRC (and that did not have to go through AML or other serious fund reviews by the UK Government). One likely example is Mayfair development 61 Curzon Street, which is being demolished and re-erected by construction agent CBRE Ltd on behalf of Greencap IV Ltd (a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands). Greencap IV Ltd’s association with the Brunei Sultanate has long been rumoured.

61 Curzon Street is causing significant anxiety among its local neighbours, as building work has led to partition walls cracking, leaks, and a dangerous rendering collapse. It has also been made clear to these neighbours that no compensation or reparation will be made any time soon (damage from the construction works dates to around 18 months ago).

Despite little opposition in Brunei, Sultan Bolkiah faces fierce international opposition. Particularly since April 2019, when Sultan Bolkiah entrenched Shariah law in Brunei’s Penal Code, sanctioning death by stoning for adultery and for sex between men, amputation of hands and feet for stealing, and other draconian penalties.

Despite spearheading what the UN has called “cruel and inhuman” punishments, and what Human Rights Watch has characterised as “barbaric to the core,” Sultan Bolkiah has so far only faced minor consequences for his actions. Actor George Clooney called for the boycott of the Sultan’s nine luxury hotels (the Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, Coworth Park in Ascot, Le Meurice and the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Hotel Eden in Rome, the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles). Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Stone, Nancy Sinatra, and other celebrities joined in his appeal. Some universities stripped Sultan Bolkian of his honorary degrees (Oxford said it would review the decision to award the degree, and the Sultan returned it). Notwithstanding their criticism of Brunei’s new Penal Code, neither the UK nor the EU have adopted sanctions against the Sultan.

Mayfair-based property owner, Sunil Sharma, who has heard about the case of 61 Curzon Street, says he intends never to work with CBRE Ltd or any entity that is associated with it. He has also called for Greencap IV Ltd’s source of funds to be scrutinised.

There are rumours that a leading media body may be interested in making a documentary on Sultan Bolkiah and the properties he holds in London, whether openly in his name, through the Brunei Investment Agency, or through offshore entities.