Nadir denies stealing £150m

Former fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir, from central London, has denied that he stole £150 million from his business empire. But he told an Old Bailey jury there was no dispute that the funds had been sent to a subsidiary company in Northern Cyprus. This, he said, was to get better exchange rates to boost the company's expanding business interests abroad. Asked by his barrister if he disputed the movement of funds to Unipac, Nadir replied: "Not at all." Nadir was giving evidence 22 years after Polly Peck International was put into administration with debts of £550 million. Nadir, 71, of Mayfair, central London, denies 13 specimen counts of theft amounting to £34 million between 1987 and 1990. He was arrested and was due to stand trial in 1993 but left Britain for Northern Cyprus, returning in August 2010. The prosecution said his flight from the country for 17 years is evidence of dishonesty. When administrators went to Northern Cyprus to recover assets, they found the money had vanished into a "black hole", it is alleged. Nadir told the court that by the time he left the UK for Northern Cyprus in May 1993, he was "a totally broken man", being sued by the administrators of Polly Peck, and having been made personally bankrupt and facing criminal court proceedings. The trial was adjourned to Wednesday.