Asil nadir biography of mahatma

British Turkish Cypriot businessman (born )

Asil Nadir
Born	() 1 May (age&#;83) Lefka, British Cyprus
Nationality	Turkish Cypriot
Alma&#;mater	Istanbul University
Occupation	Businessman
Years&#;active	–
Title	CEO of Polly Peck
Term	–90
Successor	Company bankrupt and broken up
Criminal charge(s)	False accounting and theft (13 specimen charges)
Criminal penalty	10 years (served 1 day in Turkey)
Criminal status	Released by Republic of Turkey (after 1 day in jail)
Spouses	Ayşegül Tecimer &#; &#; (m.&#;; div.&#;)&#; Nur Nadir &#; (m.&#;)&#;
Children	6

Asil Nadir (born 1 May ) is a British Turkish Cypriot businessman,^[1] who was chief executive of Polly Peck, which he took over as a small textile company, growing it during the s to become one of the United Kingdom's top FTSE-listed companies, with interests in consumer electronics, fruit distribution and packaging.

In , Polly Peck collapsed following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and charges were brought against Asil Nadir on 70 counts of false accounting and theft, which he denied.^[2] From until Nadir lived in northern Cyprus, having fled there to escape a trial in the UK. He remained a fugitive from British justice until 26 August , when he returned to London to face trial.

His trial commenced at the Old Bailey on 3 September , on 13 specimen charges of false accounting and theft totalling £34 million.^[3] He was found guilty of 10 counts of theft totalling £29 million and on 23 August was sentenced to 10 years in prison.^[4] In , Nadir was transferred to serve the rest of his sentence in Turkey, but was released one day later.

Early life

Nadir was born in in Lefka, Cyprus. His father, Irfan Nadir, was a local businessman and police constable in the colonial police department. When he was six years old he began selling newspapers, and he moved with his family to London in the s when his father expanded the family clothing business from a base in the East End of London.^[5]

Career

Nadir studied economics at Istanbul University, but returned to Cyprus before graduation to set up a clothing business.

He returned to London in the s, but after the intervention by Turkey of northern Cyprus in , accepted the appeal of the authorities to bolster the new region economically. The Turkish occupation enabled him to take over a Greek-Cypriot owned clothing factory in Nicosia, where he greatly expanded exports to the Middle East.^[5]

Polly Peck

Main article: Polly Peck

In the late s he purchased a small British textile company, Polly Peck, which he turned into a portfolio company with which to make various corporate raiding purchases in clothing, fruit packing and later consumer electronics.

Through this he came to prominence in the s as a tycoon and the CEO of an organisation by then with over 24, shareholders and interests ranging from produce to electronics. Within a decade, Nadir had built Peck from almost nothing into a member of the FTSE

His criminal mismanagement led to its collapse in ^[6]

Escape to northern Cyprus

Nadir was prosecuted on various counts of theft and fraud, amounting to 66 charges, but failed to appear at the trial in having travelled to the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which has no extradition treaty with the United Kingdom, where he resided until Although a UK arrest warrant was subsequently issued for his breach of bail, it was not valid due to procedural reasons.^[7] In a interview with the BBC, Nadir vowed to return to the UK to attempt to clear his name.

However, he said that he was fearful of the consequences to his health and refused to go back until the British government agreed to give him bail and not remand him in prison until his trial.

Asil nadir Five art works bought by Nadir, including oil paintings, are listed on the Art Loss Register, which trawls the art market for stolen and missing items. The tycoon, who fled the country by private aeroplane in for 17 years of self-imposed exile in Northern Cyprus, used the proceeds of his thefts to prop up the company's share price and his lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, property, art and racehorses. It also owns a radio and TV station. Wikidata item.

On 26 August , having provided bail of £, and secured an agreement to not be remanded in prison until his trial, he returned to the UK.^[8]

Peter Dimond, the pilot who flew Nadir out of the UK from Compton Abbas Airfield in a twin-engined private plane, was jailed for two years in August for committing an act intended to pervert the course of justice, but he was freed by the Court of Appeal in January when it quashed the conviction after it was discovered that Nadir was not on bail at the time of his escape as his bail had lapsed.^[9] For the same reason, Ramadan Güney, who had stood guarantor for £1m of the £m bail surety, was not required to pay over the funds.

^[10]

Later career

Nadir ran a business in northern Cyprus called the Kıbrıs Media Group, which inter alia publishes the newspaper Kıbrıs (Turkish for 'Cyprus') and the English language weekly Cyprus Today. It also owns a radio and TV station. Nadir's outlets published articles critical of the Republican Turkish Party/Reform Party coalition government in the run-up to the April general election and actively supported the then opposition National Unity Party and Democratic Party.

On 12 March Kıbrıs Media Group was suddenly presented with a tax demand in the amount of 11 million Turkish Lira ($ million) payable the following day, on pain of the sequestration of its assets. Leading opposition politicians branded this action as an attempt to gag the free media. The edition of 14 March of Cyprus Today appeared as usual.^[11]

Ministers subsequently awarded him a multimillion-euro contract to operate Lefkoniko Airport in northern Cyprus.^[12]

Return to UK

On 30 July it was reported that a British judge had granted Nadir bail, which it was said would pave the way for him to return to the UK to face trial.^[13]

On 26 August , Nadir returned to the UK with his wife Nur in a private Boeing aircraft, leased from Onur Air,^[8][14] to face trial.

His bail conditions included the £, bail surety already paid to the court, surrendering his passport, wearing an electronic tag, reporting to a police station once a week, and being prohibited from going near any airport.^[8] He appeared at the Old Bailey on 3 September to comply with bail conditions.^[14] Nadir stayed in a £20,a-month rented house.^[14] Owing to the complexity of the allegations, his trial did not begin until 23 January ^[15]

On 22 August , Asil Nadir was found guilty on ten counts of theft of nearly £29 million from Polly Peck.

The jury found him not guilty on three counts.

Asil nadir biography of mahatma Financial Times. It began a dramatic revival in s when Asil Nadir, a Turkish Cypriot, the Sultan of Berkeley Square, as he was known , obtained a controlling stake in the company. When placed into administration Polly Peck was found to have an almost complete lack of internal controls at its London office, allowing Nadir to transfer huge sums from the company's London bank accounts without question. Leave A Reply Cancel Reply.

The jury had been advised at the start of the trial that the 13 were specimen charges and the overall amount allegedly stolen was about £ million.^[16] He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.^[17]

Transferred to Turkey

In April , Asil Nadir was transferred to a Turkish prison.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "It is right that foreign criminals are properly punished but not at the expense of British taxpayers. This government is committed to removing foreign criminals to their own countries. Since Asil Nadir has now repaid the £2 million he owed the Legal Aid Agency, plus £5 million in compensation he paid earlier, arrangements were made with the Turkish government for his removal as part of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement."^[18]

Once back in Turkey, Nadir was only held for one day in prison before being released.^[19]

Personal life

Nadir was born to a Turkish Cypriot family.

He is the father of five children, one by his mistress when aged 19, two by his first wife, one by a former mistress, and one by his second wife.^[20] Nadir was listed at 36th on the Sunday Times Rich List in ^[15]

References

External links