2000 Hrs GMT
London
Monday
20 August 2012.
Editor © Muhammad Haque.
AADHIKARMedia has world exclusive access to material about the 1980s reign of Asil Nadir in the East End of London.
For the very general cause of supporting active morality, active ethics and active responsibility BY all in Society, we shall reflect in due course on that time.
It is quite possible that some of our reflections on the “money and the power” that Asil Nadir had ‘collected’ may have some bearings, some relevanc for today, 30 years on....
[To be continued]
AADHIKARMedia retrieved the following news item from the website of the London DAILY MAIL at 1947 GMT 20 August 2012:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2191010/Disgraced-Polly-Peck-tycoon-Asil-Nadir-FINALLY-faces-jail-stealing-5-5million-empire-20-years-run.html#ixzz247LipRtV
Disgraced Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir FINALLY faces jail for stealing at least £5.5million from his own empire after 20 years on the run
- The 71-year-old found guilty of taking £5.5m from company bank accounts
- Jury still considering nine counts after being given a majority direction
- He was due to stand trial in late 1993 but fled to his native Northern Cyprus
- He insisted any money taken out of the company was repaid with cash
By EMILY ALLEN
|
Facing jail: Fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir, pictured today, was found guilty by a jury of stealing money from his Polly Peck business empire
Former fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir has been found guilty of three counts of theft totalling £5.5million after being accused of plundering his Polly Peck business empire to fund his lavish lifestyle.
An Old Bailey jury cleared Nadir of one other count but is still considering a further nine charges after being given a majority direction.
Mr Justice Holroyde told the three women and seven men that they could return verdicts of nine to one.
The jurors had spent their seventh day considering charges alleging theft of £34million from Nadir's Polly Peck business empire between 1987 and 1990.
Polly Peck International was a conglomerate dealing in fruit, leisure, textiles and electronics.
Most of its business was based in Turkey and northern Cyprus.
The flamboyant millionaire, 71, of Mayfair, central London, had denied all 13 charges.
He insisted any money taken out of the company was repaid with cash deposits in Turkish Lira made by other family members.
The theft and other remaining charges happened at the company between 1987 and 1990 but Nadir left Britain in 1993 and could only be tried at court after he returned in 2010.
His trial has lasted seven months during which two jurors were discharged for health reasons.
His wife Nur, 28, sat at the side of the dock as the jury was brought into court 8 at the Old Bailey to be given a majority direction.
But they first they were asked if they had reached verdicts on each count - and revealed they had come to a decision of three of the charges.
Court arrival; Nadir is seenoutside the Old Bailey this morning with his wife Nur before he was found guilty
Asil Nadir, former chairman of Polly Peck, arriving at his London home with his wife Nur after 17 years in Northern Cyprus
Asil Nadir and his wife Nur arriving at the Old Bailey, London, when he went on trial in January this year
Fraud charges: A courtroom sketch of Asil Nadir, sitting in the dock at the Old Bailey
Emotion: Nur Nadir, wife of tycoon Asil Nadir, leaves the Old Bailey after hearing that her husband has been found guilty of three counts of theft
The foreman said there was no verdict on the first seven but said 'guilty' to the eighth and two other charges.
He was found not guilty on one count but the jury still has a further nine charges to consider.
The judge has now said he will accept majority verdicts as long as at least nine jurors are agreed.
HOW NADIR PLUNDERED THE CASH
The first count Nadir was found guilty of relates to the theft of £1.3m from PPI's NatWest account on June 15, 1989.
The cash was moved to the NatWest account of Jersey-based PPI subsidiary Unipac, before being passed through the Nadir-owned Industrial Bank of Kibris, based in Northern Cyprus. It was ultimately used to deal in PPI shares.
The second count of which Nadir was convicted relates to the theft of £1m, also taken from PPI's NatWest account and again channeled through Unipac.
It was used to pay for a pair of antique fireplaces, originally bought from Christie's for the PPI offices in Berkeley Square but Nadir was forced to admit they had been bought for his personal use.
The third count Nadir was convicted of relates to the theft of £3.25m from PPI's Midland Bank account on March 19, 1990. The money was channeled through Unipac and the Swiss Volksbank before being sent to the account Nadir's mother Safiye held at Citibank in Geneva.
Nadir was cleared of a count alleging he had stolen £2.5m from the PPI NatWest account on December 13, 1989.
That money was said to have been used for share dealing, to support Nadir's charter airline, Noble Air, and to settle part of his tax bill.
The remaining nine charges the jury are still deliberating on relate to theft from Polly Peck International PLC totalling nearly £30million - £26,642,500 - between 1987 and 1990.
Nadir looked shocked as the verdicts were announced.
His wife Nur, who at 28 is 43 years his junior, fled the court after her husband was found guilty of the three counts of theft.
She was whisked away in a silver chauffeur-driven Jaguar despite a jury still deliberating on the further fraud charges against her husband.
As she left the court, dressed in an expensive looking black and cream dress, she covered her eyes with a pair of large dark sunglasses.
The prosecution claims Nadir took a total of £150million from Polly Peck but put forward specimen counts relating to specific incidents.
Nadir, who said he returned from his native northern Cyprus to clear his name, claims he was unjustly treated by the Serious Fraud Office.
Polly Peck was one of the success stories of the Thatcher era and one of the best performing companies on the Stock Exchange.
But it collapsed in 1990 with debts of £550million.
Investigators were said to have found a 'black hole' after going to northern Cyprus where the money had been transferred, the court heard.
Philip Shears QC, prosecuting, said Nadir was able to use just his signature to transfer millions of pounds abroad through a complex series of companies and banks.
He was found guilty of stealing £1.3million to secretly buy Polly Peck shares to bolster its Stock Exchange price.
The other guilty counts related to £1million spent on antiques and £3.25million which went on to 19 different destinations.
The prosecution told the court the stolen money went on making Nadir and his friends and associates rich.
He was cleared of one count involving £2.5million to pay his income tax bill. The jury is now deliberating on a further nine charges of theft against him.
Mr Nadir denies all charges.
Asil Nadir and his wife Nur, at their home in Lapta, northern Cyprus (left) and in London (right)
Lavish lifestyle: Asil Nadir in his luxury hideaway in Cyprus
Jury: The case finally went before a jury at the Old Bailey in January, with the businessman facing 13 specimen charges relating to the disappearance of £33.1m and US$2.5m
Most of Polly Peck's business was based in Turkey and northern Cyprus, where Nadir (pictured here) went into hiding
The tycoon waves to the media from the balcony of a hotel in Istanbul four years after he fled Brita