Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Polly Peck tycoon urges Government to intervene in his case

Asil Nadir, the Polly Peck tycoon, has suggested that the new Government might intervene in the battle to clear his name as he returned from 17 years of exile.
Speaking outside his Mayfair home, the 69-year-old said: “I hope that the people ruling this country and the entire population are as interested as I am that justice is practised.
“I hope that the environment is correct for this injustice to be put to bed. Everyone should be treated as innocent until found guilty.”
Mr Nadir insisted there was nothing wrong with donating to a political party and defended giving the Conservatives £400,000 in the past.
“It’s only fair if you approve of the policies of a Government, if you want to extend their power, why not do it? It’s not criminal, it’s allowed.”
Mr Nadir, whose company Polly Peck was worth more than £1 billion by the end of the 1980s, arrived back in Britain on a specially chartered Turkish Onur Air A320 Airbus.
There were just 17 passengers on board the aircraft and during the three hour flight the pilot prefaced each message to the cabin with the words “Mr and Mrs Nadir and guests”.
Accompanied by his 26-year-old wife Nur, he landed under leaden skies at Luton airport where he was greeted by immigration authorities while still on the aircraft.
Within minutes he was escorted into a waiting gun metal grey chauffeur driven Jaguar and driven to London.
Mr Nadir, who has dual British and Turkish nationality, surrendered four passports to the authorities – including an emergency British passport specifically produced for his return.
He must stay at his London residence and guarantee a £250,000 surety before his first court appearance at the Old Bailey on September 3.
At the hearing, a judge will decide whether he must wear an electronic tag and whether he will have to abide by a curfew as the fraud investigation is re-opened.
The tycoon, dressed in a dark suit, crisp white shirt, tie and green silk handkerchief, grinned broadly as he stood on the doorstep of his £20,000 a month home.
He told reporters: “I am delighted to be here. It has been a long time.
“I have missed this country and I hope that this time I am going to live in a country which gives more value to justice and stays away from abusing it.”
As he travelled back to Britain, he said he had returned because he felt it was the “right environment” to challenge the charges levelled against him.
Mr Nadir insisted no deal had been struck before he returned, which entailed leaving behind an opulent lifestyle in northern Cyprus.
He controls the Kibris newspaper and television group and exercises notable political influence.
“I have not done a deal,” he said. “My lawyers have asked for me to be granted bail before I came to England and that was decided.
“There is no deal. There is only one deal and that is, I am hoping I will see for the first time some justice.”
Mr Nadir said he had fled Britain in 1993 because his three year battle against fraud allegations had severely damaged his health.
“My health had deteriorated and at that point I felt that, to save my life, I had to come to recuperate. I have been asking since then for the environment to be as it is today.”
The Serious Fraud Office alleges that Mr Nadir transferred millions out of Polly Peck in the years leading up to its collapse with debts of £1.3bn in 1990.
However he insists that he proved his innocence at the time, but no one would listen.
Mr Nadir said he hoped that the case against him would last no longer than three months and get thrown out due to abuse of process.
“There was an abuse of process by the authorities,” he said. “That is what is going to be addressed in the first place.
“I feel that the abuse that materialised – if I am not mistaken – has not happened in many, many decades.
“I am hoping to get a fair trial, if this matter goes to trial.
The former Tory party donor, who fled the country in 1993 while facing 66 charges of theft relating to a £34 million fraud, also indicated that he was willing to give more money to the Conservatives.
He said he hoped the new Government would be “wise enough and think highly enough of Great Britain to clear this matter”

No comments:

Post a Comment