FUGITIVE Turkish Cypriot tycoon Asil Nadir was granted bail by a London court yesterday providing he returns to Britain to face fraud charges relating to the collapse of his Polly Peck empire almost 20 years ago.
Nadir, 69, a Conservative Party donor, fled to northern Cyprus, which has no extradition treaty with Britain, in 1993 to avoid a 34 million pound fraud trial.
The Serious Fraud Office, which is investigating the case, said he remained charged with 66 counts of theft.
Nadir, who denies any wrongdoing, has said he would stand trial to clear his name if he was not taken into custody. Granting bail, a judge at London’s Old Bailey court said he hoped the move would end the “legal limbo” in the case.
The judge quashed an arrest warrant for him and imposed 10 bail conditions, the Press Association reported. These included a requirement for Nadir to be at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on September 3.
He must also deposit 250,000 pounds with the court as a security before returning, give notice of his flight, submit to electronic tagging and surrender travel documents.
His Polly Peck empire included business interests as diverse as electronics and hotels. Before its collapse the firm was one of the fastest growing on the London stock market in the 1980s.
Justice Bean said: “I think it is desirable that the legal limbo as to Mr Nadir’s bail status should be brought to an end and he should be given the opportunity to submit to the jurisdiction of this court by attending in person.”
Nadir will have to apply for a British passport before he can travel, the court heard.
Responding to the news Nadir told The Times: “It’s good news. It’s a very good first step. I’m more hopeful that we’ll have some fair play than I have been in the last 20 years.”
Asked if he would return to the country for the September 3 trial he said: “Obviously. I’ve been battling for this for all these years. It’s what I’ve been fighting for.”
Nadir escaped to his native Cyprus in 1993 as he was about to go to trial on 66 charges of false accounting and theft from his once phenomenally successful Polly Peck business empire.
In doing so, he forfeited 3.5 million pounds bail money but found refuge in the north.
A source close to Nadir told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that Nadir had made the application for bail because of his “intense desire to clear his name”.
“He wants to go to England with his passport and bail paper in his hand,” the source said, adding: “How long can someone wait for justice? Do you think an injustice goes away with the years? It doesn’t”.
According to the same source, the 69 year-old Nadir is currently in “very good health” and “has the energy to deal with this”.
“He’s got plans. He’s not stopped thinking about business. His whole life was business. He lives to work”.
Nadir, who has always maintained his innocence in the handling of Polly Peck, has since lived as a virtual recluse in his Lapithos home, running a dwindling number of business interests in the north of Cyprus and Turkey. Most notable of his remaining assets is the Kibris media group, which includes a daily newspaper, TV and radio channels. Kibris is the mostly widely read publication coming out of the north, and has a tangible influence on public opinion.
Before his arrest in 1991, Nadir’s Polly Peck, which traded in just about everything from fruit to electronics, the Lefka-born Turkish Cypriot had been named by the Sunday Times as Britain’s 36th richest man. Those who bought shares in Polly Peck during the eighties saw their value rise to up to 1,000 times their purchase value. His downfall was however even swifter than his phenomenal rise to riches.
Nadir has long expressed a wish to return to the UK “to clear his name”. He has also been quoted as saying that he intensely missed Britain. He has four sons who live there. However, our source said Nadir’s desire to return to the UK was primarily motivated by his desire to clear his name.
“Life is good here, but you cannot forgive and forget,” the source said.
At the Old Bailey yesterday, Nadir’s lawyer Alison Hill outlined to Justice Bean the reasons why the Turkish Cypriot businessman should be allowed to return to the UK for trial without being held in custody.
As things stood before yesterday, Nadir would have been arrested and jailed if he had returned to the UK. Hill is believed to have spent the past weeks in Cyprus working with Nadir on his retrial plan. A similar application by Nadir is 2001 was thrown out by the court. However, it is believed that this time the Serious Fraud Squad (SFO), the body that accused him of theft and false accounting in 1991, did not oppose the request.
Nadir has recently made something of a recovery in north Cyprus’ business community by winning a contract to run cargo handling for the north’s second airport at Lefkonico [Gecitkale]. While Lefkonico currently handles very little cargo, the former tycoon is likely eyeing the EU’s direct trade regulation, which is believed on line for ratification by the EU later this year. This would open up the breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet to trade with the European bloc, in which case the Nadir contract could prove lucrative.
