Asil Nadir fights for his pension

HE was the merchant prince who broke all the rules, a buccaneer who did things in style, including his flight from justice. Now, though, the biggest matter on Asil Nadir's mind is his pension.

Eleven years after taking refuge in Northern Cyprus from multiple fraud charges in Britain, Nadir, 60, is hoping the High Court will order the release of his retirement benefits.

It is not looking good. The retirement scheme run by the now-defunct Polly Peck fruit-to-electronics conglomerate that Nadir founded has been gradually wound down.

Now just one pensioner remains - Nadir. And once he is paid off, the scheme can be shut for good. In 2001, the fund's trustee won a High Court order that seemed to clear the way for the money to be paid.

But 'a complication has crept up' relating to the injunction imposed by the courts in 1991 that froze Nadir's assets.

Now the trustee fears that legal bills could leave him with nothing to show for his pension contributions.

An out-of-court solution is the best hope for Nadir. This is all pretty small beer for a man whose company crashed in 1990 owing £1.3bn and who is still facing theft charges totalling £30m.

That said, sympathy for Nadir in Britain could be very limited. Creditors were paid just 2.9p in the pound while shareholders got nothing.