By . Rebecca Camber . PUBLISHED: . 09:01 EST, 20 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 07:14 EST, 21 August 2012 . Asil Nadir was facing jail yesterday . after finally being convicted of stealing millions from his business to . fund an extraordinary luxury lifestyle. Almost two decades after he fled . Britain on the eve of his trial, the 71-year-old tycoon looked wide-eyed . with shock as he was found guilty of plundering Polly Peck . International. The former fugitive is accused of . siphoning off nearly £150million from the empire – one of the great . success stories of the Thatcher era – causing it to eventually collapse. Court arrival; Nadir is seenoutside the Old Bailey this morning with his wife Nur before he was found guilty . As chairman and chief executive of the . conglomerate, which bought up Del Monte’s fresh fruit division and a . majority stake in Japanese electronics firm Sansui, he is said to have . smuggled enough bags of cash out of the country ‘to stand 300 times the . height of Nelson’s Column’, weighing a colossal 135 tons. But the mogul, who allegedly spent . millions on Mayfair mansions, grand country estates, antiques and sports . cars including a Bentley Continental, a Bentley Turbo and a Ferrari . Testarossa, infamously jetted off to his native northern Cyprus on the . eve of his trial for fraud in May 1993. It was not until August 2010 that Nadir returned to London claiming he could not live with the ‘burning sense of injustice’. Yesterday, however, following a seven-month trial, a jury convicted him of three charges of theft totalling £5.5million. 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 . In marked contrast to the scenes at . the beginning of the trial when Nadir entered the Old Bailey grinning . and waving to photographers with his glamorous wife on his arm, . yesterday he was a picture of disbelief. Dressed in a double-breasted suit with . a handkerchief in his jacket pocket, the flamboyant defendant stood . motionless in shock, staring straight ahead with his jaw working . furiously as the jury returned their verdicts. His wife, Nur, who at 28 is 43 years his junior, fought back tears as she sat just a few feet away in a black dress. Moments later she fled the court, . telling reporters outside in a trembling voice: ‘I am very disappointed, . that’s all I can say.’ As the jury continued to deliberate on . further theft charges, she was whisked away from court in a silver . chauffeur-driven Jaguar. Nadir was found guilty of stealing . £1.3million from PPI’s accounts to secretly buy shares in the company to . prop up its Stock Exchange value. Every penny on the share price . increased the value of Nadir’s publicly declared 25 per cent stake in . the firm by nearly £1million. 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 . He was also convicted of blowing . £1million on antiques, buying a pair of antique fireplaces from . Christie’s to furnish his lavish offices in Berkeley Square. Some of the cash stolen in this . tranche was also used to top up Nadir’s personal bank account when he . went overdrawn after splurging on gifts including jewellery in the . run-up to Christmas 1989. He was also found guilty of stealing . £3.25million, some of which was funnelled into an account Nadir’s mother . Safiye held in Geneva. Money stolen in this transaction was . ploughed into South Audley Management, which administered his family . interests and the Baggrave Farm estate, an elegant stately home nestled . in 2,000 acres in Leicestershire, part of which he planned to develop . into a model farm. Yesterday he was cleared of taking £2.5million to . support his charter airline, Noble Air, and to settle part of his tax . bill. 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 . The jury is still deliberating on nine . other specimen charges of theft which relate to the disappearance of . £33million and $2.5million. But prosecutor Philip Shears, QC, . claims the ‘much bigger picture’ is that he stole £146million and . $6.4million – which was equivalent to £3.9million in 1990 – in a total . of 64 transfers. Nadir is said to have ordered his . henchmen to take out bags of bank notes, often totalling £100,000, from . banks which he ‘dishonestly routed away to benefit himself, his family . or associates’. The cash was allegedly taken between August 1987 and . August 1990 from three accounts held by PPI, a major international . conglomerate which had over 200 subsidiaries trading in food, . electronics, textiles and leisure. 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 . At the time, Polly Peck was a major success story and one of the best performing companies on the Stock Exchange. For a time, Nadir appeared . untouchable, buying the Del Monte fresh fruit division in a deal worth . $875million and acquiring a majority stake in Sansui. But his empire began to crumble when . the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into suspected . manipulation of its share price in September 1990. The firm was placed into . administration the following month with debts of more than £550million . and Nadir was charged with theft and false accounting. He fled the country a few months later claiming he was a ‘broken man’ who could not receive a fair trial. Now he faces a lengthy prison sentence. The tycoon waves to the media from the balcony of a hotel in Istanbul four years after he fled Britain . JULY 1980: Nadir takes over as chief executive of struggling UK firm Polly Peck International after buying up 58 per cent of the company for around £270,000. A rapid expansion drive is launched, with the firm buying up textile, packaging, food and electronic firms across the world . 1989: PPI is admitted to the FTSE 100 index after acquiring a majority stake in struggling Japanese electronics firm Sansui and buying Del Monte’s fresh fruit division in a deal worth $875million . At its peak, PPI has a market capitalisation of £1.7billion . SUMMER 1990: The Serious Fraud Office begins an investigation into suspected manipulation of PPI’s share price . SEPTEMBER 1990: SFO officers raid the offices of South Audley Management, the firm set up to control Nadir’s family interests. It triggers a run on PPI shares, which are suspended from trading the same day . OCTOBER 1990: PPI is placed into administration, owing debts of £550million . DECEMBER 1990: Nadir is charged with theft and false accounting . JUNE 1992: He pleads not guilty to all the charges . MAY 1993: The tycoon flees the UK in a light aircraft from Compton Abbass airfield in Dorset to France. He then takes a private jet on to northern Cyprus . AUGUST 2010: Nadir and his wife Nur are greeted by a VIP-style reception as he returns to London via Luton Airport . JANUARY 2012: Nadir’s trial begins at the Old Bailey . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
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 . Rebecca Camber . PUBLISHED: . 09:01 EST, 20 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 07:14 EST, 21 August 2012 . Asil Nadir was facing jail yesterday . after finally being convicted of stealing millions from his business to . fund an extraordinary luxury lifestyle. Almost two decades after he fled . Britain on the eve of his trial, the 71-year-old tycoon looked wide-eyed . with shock as he was found guilty of plundering Polly Peck . International. The former fugitive is accused of . siphoning off nearly £150million from the empire – one of the great . success stories of the Thatcher era – causing it to eventually collapse. Court arrival; Nadir is seenoutside the Old Bailey this morning with his wife Nur before he was found guilty . As chairman and chief executive of the . conglomerate, which bought up Del Monte’s fresh fruit division and a . majority stake in Japanese electronics firm Sansui, he is said to have . smuggled enough bags of cash out of the country ‘to stand 300 times the . height of Nelson’s Column’, weighing a colossal 135 tons. But the mogul, who allegedly spent . millions on Mayfair mansions, grand country estates, antiques and sports . cars including a Bentley Continental, a Bentley Turbo and a Ferrari . Testarossa, infamously jetted off to his native northern Cyprus on the . eve of his trial for fraud in May 1993. It was not until August 2010 that Nadir returned to London claiming he could not live with the ‘burning sense of injustice’. Yesterday, however, following a seven-month trial, a jury convicted him of three charges of theft totalling £5.5million. 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 . In marked contrast to the scenes at . the beginning of the trial when Nadir entered the Old Bailey grinning . and waving to photographers with his glamorous wife on his arm, . yesterday he was a picture of disbelief. Dressed in a double-breasted suit with . a handkerchief in his jacket pocket, the flamboyant defendant stood . motionless in shock, staring straight ahead with his jaw working . furiously as the jury returned their verdicts. His wife, Nur, who at 28 is 43 years his junior, fought back tears as she sat just a few feet away in a black dress. Moments later she fled the court, . telling reporters outside in a trembling voice: ‘I am very disappointed, . that’s all I can say.’ As the jury continued to deliberate on . further theft charges, she was whisked away from court in a silver . chauffeur-driven Jaguar. Nadir was found guilty of stealing . £1.3million from PPI’s accounts to secretly buy shares in the company to . prop up its Stock Exchange value. Every penny on the share price . increased the value of Nadir’s publicly declared 25 per cent stake in . the firm by nearly £1million. 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 . He was also convicted of blowing . £1million on antiques, buying a pair of antique fireplaces from . Christie’s to furnish his lavish offices in Berkeley Square. Some of the cash stolen in this . tranche was also used to top up Nadir’s personal bank account when he . went overdrawn after splurging on gifts including jewellery in the . run-up to Christmas 1989. He was also found guilty of stealing . £3.25million, some of which was funnelled into an account Nadir’s mother . Safiye held in Geneva. Money stolen in this transaction was . ploughed into South Audley Management, which administered his family . interests and the Baggrave Farm estate, an elegant stately home nestled . in 2,000 acres in Leicestershire, part of which he planned to develop . into a model farm. Yesterday he was cleared of taking £2.5million to . support his charter airline, Noble Air, and to settle part of his tax . bill. 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 . The jury is still deliberating on nine . other specimen charges of theft which relate to the disappearance of . £33million and $2.5million. But prosecutor Philip Shears, QC, . claims the ‘much bigger picture’ is that he stole £146million and . $6.4million – which was equivalent to £3.9million in 1990 – in a total . of 64 transfers. Nadir is said to have ordered his . henchmen to take out bags of bank notes, often totalling £100,000, from . banks which he ‘dishonestly routed away to benefit himself, his family . or associates’. The cash was allegedly taken between August 1987 and . August 1990 from three accounts held by PPI, a major international . conglomerate which had over 200 subsidiaries trading in food, . electronics, textiles and leisure. 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 . At the time, Polly Peck was a major success story and one of the best performing companies on the Stock Exchange. For a time, Nadir appeared . untouchable, buying the Del Monte fresh fruit division in a deal worth . $875million and acquiring a majority stake in Sansui. But his empire began to crumble when . the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into suspected . manipulation of its share price in September 1990. The firm was placed into . administration the following month with debts of more than £550million . and Nadir was charged with theft and false accounting. He fled the country a few months later claiming he was a ‘broken man’ who could not receive a fair trial. Now he faces a lengthy prison sentence. The tycoon waves to the media from the balcony of a hotel in Istanbul four years after he fled Britain . JULY 1980: Nadir takes over as chief executive of struggling UK firm Polly Peck International after buying up 58 per cent of the company for around £270,000. A rapid expansion drive is launched, with the firm buying up textile, packaging, food and electronic firms across the world . 1989: PPI is admitted to the FTSE 100 index after acquiring a majority stake in struggling Japanese electronics firm Sansui and buying Del Monte’s fresh fruit division in a deal worth $875million . At its peak, PPI has a market capitalisation of £1.7billion . SUMMER 1990: The Serious Fraud Office begins an investigation into suspected manipulation of PPI’s share price . SEPTEMBER 1990: SFO officers raid the offices of South Audley Management, the firm set up to control Nadir’s family interests. It triggers a run on PPI shares, which are suspended from trading the same day . OCTOBER 1990: PPI is placed into administration, owing debts of £550million . DECEMBER 1990: Nadir is charged with theft and false accounting . JUNE 1992: He pleads not guilty to all the charges . MAY 1993: The tycoon flees the UK in a light aircraft from Compton Abbass airfield in Dorset to France. He then takes a private jet on to northern Cyprus . AUGUST 2010: Nadir and his wife Nur are greeted by a VIP-style reception as he returns to London via Luton Airport . JANUARY 2012: Nadir’s trial begins at the Old Bailey . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
trial, the 71-year-old tycoon looked wide-eyed . with shock as he was found guilty of plundering of cash out of the country ‘to stand 300 times to his native northern Cyprus on the . eve of his accounts to secretly buy shares in the company to guilty of three counts of theft . He was also cleared of taking £2.5million to . support his the FTSE 100 index after acquiring a majority