A British judge has issued an arrest warrant for Brunei's Prince Jefri Bolkiah after he failed to show up for a court hearing.
The disgraced brother of the oil-rich state's ruling sultan is enmeshed in long-running legal proceedings over billions of dollars he is alleged to have embezzled while he was Brunei's finance minister.
Jefri, dubbed the "Playboy Prince" for his lavish lifestyle, was due in court on Wednesday to face allegations that he violated a court order to hand over 3 billion pounds ($NZ7.8 billion) in cash and assets to the Brunei government's investment arm.
His lawyer, James Lewis, told the High Court hearing that he did not know where his client was, but thought he was in France or Monaco.
"My understanding is that he does not mean to attend these proceedings at all," Lewis said.
Judge Peter Smith issued a warrant for the prince's arrest and warned that he faced jail if he was apprehended.
"If he is arrested it will take an advocate of great skill to persuade me that he should have bail," Smith said.
Brunei's royal scandal became public in 2000 when the government accused Jefri, the youngest brother of Brunei's supreme ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, of embezzling nearly US$16 billion ($NZ21.3 billion) while he was finance minister between 1986 and 1998.
The losses nearly bankrupted the tiny country, located in a corner of Borneo island, at a time when revenues were stretched by low oil prices and the Asian economic crisis.
Jefri's shenanigans estranged him from Hassanal, one of the richest men in the world, who lives in a gold-decked 1,788-room palace and whose own lavish lifestyle is legendary.
Jefri reached an out-of-court settlement with the government in 2000, agreeing to pay back the money he allegedly used to buy hotels and other expensive assets.
But the Brunei Investment Agency, formerly headed by Jefri, launched court proceedings in 2004, saying the prince had not transferred ownership of five US and European properties - including the New York Palace Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles - and a trust fund as required by the settlement.
Last year a British court ordered him to hand over the disputed assets.
Jefri, 53, left Brunei in 2004 and has mainly lived in London, where he owns St. John's Lodge, one of the city's most lavish homes.
He has four wives, 17 children and 18 adopted wards, according to Brunei media. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he had the authority to use state funds.
