Nadir could be back 'within weeks'

ASIL Nadir hopes to return to Britain 'within weeks' to face justice. That will revive the controversy over Polly Peck, one of the most spectacular business successes - and collapses - of the 1980s.

In 10 years he took Polly Peck from a tiny dressmaking company to a FTSE 100 conglomerate. By July 1990, it was valued at £1.8bn and Nadir, the son of a Cypriot interpreter, was ranked Britain's 36th richest man with a stable of polo horses and a £200m fortune.

The rise was all the more remarkable for being so unusual. Polly Peck made cardboard boxes in northern Cyprus. It imported fruit for the likes of Marks & Spencer. It acquired kettles company Russell Hobbs, launched Pizza Hut in Turkey and acquired the Del Monte fresh fruit business from 'Barbarians at the Gate' - New York buyout fund KKR - for £557m.

In 1989, it even broke into Japan, acquiring control of electronics maker Sansui. Anyone who had invested £100 in Polly Peck in July 1980 saw their stake valued at £156,000 10 years later. But within a few months it was all gone.

An abortive buyout plan in August 1990 generated surprise and the shares went into freefall. The Serious Fraud Office, probing offshore share dealings, dramatically raided Nadir's private offices in Mayfair and the shares were suspended.

By early October, Polly Peck suddenly admitted cash flow problems. The company went into administration that month.

Nadir was arrested and charged with theft and false accounting. In May 1993, he fled to northern Cyprus where he has remained since. Association with Nadir brought down Tory minister Michael Mates.

Nadir's solicitor Peter Krivinkos said his client will return to the UK within a month 'provided the Serious Fraud Office is willing to consider bail conditions which will allow him his liberty'.