Turkish-Cypriot tycoon Nadir guilty of 28.5 million theft

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

A file photo dated 19 January 2012 shows former business tycoon Asil Nadir arriving at the Old Bailey court in central London, Britain. Asil Nadir, who was accused of false accounting in connection with the collapse in 1990 of his British business empire, was on 20 August 2012 found guilty on three counts of theft. EPA Photo

Turkish-Cypriot tycoon Asil Nadir, once one of Britain's most notorious fugitives, faces jail after he was found guilty of a further six charges of theft by a London court on Wednesday.
 
The 71-year-old has now been convicted of a total of nine thefts totalling 28.5 million (36 million euros, $45 million) from his former Polly Peck conglomerate.
 
The jury at the Old Bailey is deliberating on two remaining counts. Nadir has been cleared of two counts of theft.
 
Nadir was one of the most prominent businessmen in Britain in the 1980s and early 1990s after building up Polly Peck from a small textile firm into a sprawling company with interests ranging from fruit to electronics.

Most of Polly Peck's business was based in Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Ankara.
 
But the flamboyant Nadir was arrested after Polly Peck went into administration with debts of 550 million and he was charged with 13 counts of theft.
 
He was due to stand trial, but fled in 1993 to the TRNC, which does not have an extradition treaty with Britain.
 
He returned to Britain in 2010 in a dramatic bid to clear his name after 17 years as a fugitive.