Asil Nadir sentenced to 10 years in jail

Corrupt businessman Asil Nadir has been sentenced to ten years' in jail, two decades after he fled the UK.

The sentence follows his conviction for stealing nearly 29 million pounds between 1987 and 1990 from Polly Peck International, the company he led until it collapsed in 1990.

This amount would represent more than £60m today, said Mr Justice Holroyde as he passed sentence.

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Nadir will be eligible for release on licence in five years time.

The former businessman fled the UK in 1993 while awaiting trial and flew to northern Cyprus, but came back in 2010.

Outside the court his wife maintained his innocence and said Nadir would appeal.

Mr Justice Holroyde said Nadir could be proud of his success in setting up Polly Peck but in the end he was "a wealthy man who stole out of pure greed".

"The company's success was in many ways your success," he said.

"But the company's money was not your money. You knew that. You nonetheless helped yourself to it. You committed theft on a grand scale."

Nadir claimed in his defence that Turkish lire was paid into bank accounts in Cyprus to offset the money which he had been taking out.

Mr Justice Holroyde said he had "no hesitation in concluding that you [Nadir] have shown not the slightest remorse for your crime".

"Your sole concern throughout has been to avoid any acceptance of your own responsibility," he added.

Polly Peck began as a small textiles company in east London but after buying it Nadir expanded the firm into the food, leisure and electronics industries, creating more than 200 subsidiaries worldwide.

One of the company's best known acquisitions was the international canned fruit business, Del Monte.

In 1990 it was a darling of investors and one of the FTSE 100's best performing stocks.

But the share price collapsed after it was raided by the Serious Fraud Office.