Jordan's Royal Hashemite Court said the recent media reports on the bank account of King Abdullah II include inaccuracies used to defame Jordan and the King.
A press statement by the Jordanian Royal Court, which Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of, said the reports contained inaccurate, outdated and misleading information with the intent of defaming the King and Jordan.
The Royal Court revealed that the total balance mentioned in several reports is inaccurate and exaggerated.
The statement explained that most of the sums listed in the accounts relate to the sale of a large Airbus 340 airplane for $212 million and replacing it with a smaller, less costly Gulfstream aircraft.
King Abdullah had inherited two planes from the late King Hussein, which were sold, with the resulting sum used to replace them more than once over the past 20 years, including the sale of the Airbus 340 and the purchase of the Gulfstream aircraft currently used by the monarch.
"The surplus sum that resulted from replacing the large aircraft with a smaller one was used with His Majesty's private assets and personal wealth to cover the private expenses of the Hashemite family and fund various Royal initiatives over the past years."
The Royal Court revealed that the closed accounts mentioned in the reports include an account with deposits inherited from his father, the late King Hussein.
As for the account established as a trust fund for the King's children, which is registered under the name of Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the funds came from the King's private wealth, and the account was entrusted to their mother, as they were minors at the time.
The statement stressed that the King's private assets and wealth have always been independent of the treasury and public funds, and they are managed by the Privy Purse, a directorate at the Royal Hashemite Court for over 70 years.
The Royal Court stressed that all international assistance is subject to professional audits, and their allocations are fully accounted for by the government and donors, under cooperation agreements subject to the highest standards of governance and oversight.
The Court warned that any allegations that link the funds in these accounts to public funds or foreign assistance are defamatory, baseless, and deliberate attempts to distort facts and systematically target Jordan's reputation, as well as King Abdullah's credibility, especially coming after similar reports published last year that were based on leaks from previous years.
