BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Brunei auction: What's up for grabs

BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Monday, 13 August, 2001, 16:28 GMT 17:28 UK

Brunei auction: What's up for grabs

Some of the many gold-plated toilet accessories on sale

Dubbed the "Sale of the Century", the auction of thousands of items belonging to the disgraced and bankrupt Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei is expected to last until Thursday.

The sale - which is being handled by the British auction firm Smith Hodgkinson - was prompted by the collapse of Prince Jefri's Amedeo Corporation in the Asian economic crisis four years ago.

Brunei auction
Contained in the 60-page auction catalogue are 10,000 lots - a vast array of items bought by Amedeo, which was involved in building and furnishing numerous palaces, hotels and commercial projects in Brunei.

Among some of the items, crammed into 21 warehouses are:

8,500 slabs of Italian marble, 200 wrought iron Victorian lamp posts, rooms full of Baccarat crystal and Limoges porcelain, and hundreds of Louis XIV-style sofas and chairs.

Table

A flight simulator for an Airbus A340 airliner, a Comanche attack helicopter simulator, and a formula one racing simulator

Two fire engines.

Hundreds of gold plated toilet brush holders.

Dozens of televisions, ovens, washing machines and other household appliances.

Hundreds of lamps, shades and fittings.

Fire engine belonging to Prince Jefri

More unusual entries on the list include Lot 3003 -"three various metal sculptures", Lot 3477 - "a child's slide", and Lot 3249 -"a stainless steel 2 door pizza oven."

Thousands of items of crockery and utensils, many made by the British luxury goods firm Asprey, including plates, champagne flutes, jugs and coffee pots.

A Jacuzzi in "white, with gold plated fittings," two baby grand pianos, a "cast erotic sculpture, three automatic tennis ball servers.

Two hundred cast iron lamp posts.

Litigation

Unofficial estimates say Brunei could rake in about $17m from the auction.

Street lamps
Amedeo collapsed after it came to light that its extravagant director was draining the country's foreign currency reserves with his opulent lifestyle.

The prince settled a civil action brought against him by his brother, the Sultan of Brunei, after agreeing to hand back assets he had acquired during his time as finance minister.

These included several hotels, aircraft, a fleet of yachts and businesses including the luxury goods firm Asprey of London. The prince was accused of misappropriating $32.8bn of state funds.

He also faces a multi-million dollar civil court action by creditors, but efforts to serve court summonses on him have so far failed as he left Brunei before court officials could get in touch with him.

The prince, who now divides his time between London and Paris, left behind a fleet of expensive cars - many of which could not be started because of neglect.

Related to this story:
Brunei Sultan's lawsuit settled (13 May 00 | Asia-Pacific) Battle royal in Brunei (08 Mar 00 | Asia-Pacific) Sultan of Brunei sacks brother (29 Jul 98 | Asia-Pacific) Royal riches and family embarrassment (17 Sep 98 | Asia-Pacific)

Internet links: Brunei Direct | Sultan of Brunei | Information on Brunei |
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites