Still, the action against Prince Jefri constitutes a step forward for the people of Brunei.
The palace is portraying the Jefri affair as a case of the law taking its course.
It goes back to 1997, when word spread of alleged fraud by Jefri's flagship company, Amedeo.
"There is something pretty nasty going on in Brunei these days, " says Jefri's spokesman.
In fact, the government was waiting for British courts to freeze Jefri's assets before it went public.
Aziz soon alleged that huge amounts of BIA funds had been misappropriated while Jefri headed the agency.
Jefri has withdrawn his kids from school, decamped to London and cut all ties with the sultanate.
" Jefri's spokesman says: "If he felt he had done wrong, he would not have gone back.
Many people regard Jefri's Islamist conspiracy theory as a ploy to distract attention from his financial difficulties.
Prince Jefri was the head of this agency and finance minister until he fell out with his brother.
Jefri was still living it up in exile, jetting between his luxury homes in London, Paris and New York.
It was his youngest brother, Jefri, who had just flown in from London after six months of self-imposed exile.
" But an adviser to the Sultan says: "Jefri is in deep trouble.
While other members of the Bolkiah family are known for their high living, Jefri did it more blatantly and extravagantly.
Did the Amedeo affair and Jefri's alleged misuse of BIA funds fall into the same category of multi-billion dollar fiascoes?
Officials say that more of Jefri's associates will soon face charges, possibly including former ministers and businessmen in Malaysia and Singapore.
In late July, the Sultan removed the absent Jefri as head of BIA. On Aug. 2, Jefri lost control of Amedeo.
Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei has certainly come down in the world.
Then, based on the evidence gathered by Aziz's task force with the help of foreign financial experts, Jefri was lured back and formally charged.
Earlier this year his government sued Jefri over the BIA's finances.
Jefri eventually relinquished the finance ministry to concentrate on his business.
As the debacle unfolded, a financial task force was set up under Mohamed's colleague and the new BIA chief, Education Minister Aziz Umar - Jefri's nemesis.
"The domestic media have been told to report this as a matter of the people acting against Jefri to get their money back, " adds the diplomat.
On Sept. 26, an Airbus A300 belonging to Jefri was reportedly grounded in upstate New York while its credentials were checked on orders from the Brunei government.
Few people believe Jefri will go to jail, but many think the government will grind him down until he signs over his properties and returns as much money as he can.
Prince Jefri's assets were also frozen, although it was not clear whether that included the 2, 000 cars, 17 aircraft and a luxury yacht called Tits, which he is also said to own.
On March 5th, a notice which appeared at Brunei's High Court announced that the sultan was suing his youngest brother, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, and 71 others for the misuse of public money.
Jefri's fall from grace is all the more remarkable because Brunei is little different from an Arab sheikdom with no room for a critical press, a vocal opposition or a change in government.
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