Asil Nadir: The Sultan of Berkeley Square returns

Asil Nadir, the fugitive tycoon accused of stealing £35m from investors before the collapse of his Polly Peck empire in 1990, will be back in Britain for a preliminary court hearing in September.

Nearly two decades after fleeing to Cyprus by private jet to escape 66 charges of fraud and embezzlement, "the Sultan of Berkeley Square" is preparing to face the music, says The Daily Telegraph. Asil Nadir, the fugitive tycoon accused of stealing £35m from investors before the calamitous collapse of his Polly Peck empire in 1990, will be back in Britain for a preliminary court hearing in September. It promises to be one of the most high-profile fraud trials in years.

Nadir, who claims he was stitched up by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO, see below), has been agitating for his day in court for years. But having endured a traumatic night in Brixton jail at the height of the Polly Peck scandal, he refused to leave the safety of Turkish Cyprus (which has no extradition treaty with Britain) unless granted bail ahead of his trial. An Old Bailey judge has finally agreed.

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