Mr Gleave, 55, was head of business development at SVS, which he had joined in 2013.

He remained a registered director on the FCA’s register until late July 2019, less than two weeks before the regulator’s intervention.

He had been a company director registered with Companies House until a couple of months earlier, although on LinkedIn he claims to have left the business in November 2018.

Three SVS directors were later banned and fined by the FCA but Mr Gleave was not one of them. Two are appealing the decision.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out more than £41m to former SVS customers.

At the time of his dealings with Prince Andrew, Mr Gleave also ran a number of caravan and mobile home parks in Northern Ireland and England.

At one point, he was reported to have worked out of one of the parks, a retirement village for over-55s on the east coast of Northern Ireland.

Ten of the parks have since gone into administration and Mr Gleave, who did not respond to a request for comment, now works for a renewable energy company with a focus on AI and crypto financing.

Neither Prince Andrew nor Mr Gleave have ever explained the reason for the payments or the nature of any contractual relationship between the two men.

Baroness Margaret Hodge, a former chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said Mr Gleave’s business background raised questions for Prince Andrew about his judgement and financial dealings.

“This is yet another instance where a dose of transparency would help answer legitimate questions about the origins of the money and the purpose of the payment,” she said.

“Without those answers any sceptical person would be worried that there might be some financial wrongdoing taking place and this would risk sullying the reputation of the Royal family,” she added.

As well as the payments he made himself, Mr Gleave’s company, Alphabet Capital, was also used to funnel significant sums which had originated from Ms Isbilen to Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, court documents show.

Ms Ferguson was paid £50,000 by Alphabet Capital in February 2020. It has previously been reported that she was paid £20,000 by Alphabet for a role advising the company and that she also received more than £200,000 to cover work she had done as a brand ambassador for a US solar energy company.

Prince Andrew was separately given £750,000 directly by Ms Isbilen, money which he has repaid.

Another £10,000 was paid from Alphabet Capital to the couple’s daughter, Eugenie. This, along with a £15,000 payment from Ms Isbilen’s business adviser has previously been described by Eugenie as a gift from a “long-standing family friend” which she said was to pay for a surprise birthday party for her mother, Sarah.

Alphabet Capital filed accounts claiming it was a dormant company at the time of the payments. These were later corrected but listed a turnover of just £80,000.

Prince Andrew and Mr Gleave did not respond to requests for comment.