London: The founder of the collapsed Polly
Peck business empire will go on trial in London in one of the
country's biggest ever fraud trials.
Asil Nadir is charged with 13 counts of theft for
allegedly taking around USD 51 million from the business.
Nadir built Polly Peck from a small textile company into
a conglomerate with interests in textiles, fruit and
electronics in the 1980s and fled to the Turkish part of
Cyprus after the business collapsed in 1990.
He returned to England to face charges in 2010 after
being assured he would be granted bail.
Nadir, who is now 70, denies any wrongdoing.
The trial is scheduled to begin in London's Central
Criminal Court today.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 00:00