Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir, who fled to a Cyprus bolthole after plundering millions from his business empire, has passed away aged 83.
The death of the Turkish Cypriot businessman and former fugitive was announced by his British lawyer.
Doctors at privately run Kolan British hospital confirmed that he died at 22.43 local time on Sunday.
He had been in intensive care for several weeks after reportedly being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Once one of Britain’s richest men and a Conservative Party donor, Nadir was convicted in August 2012 of theft amounting to £28.8 million from his Polly Peck International (PPI) business empire in the late 1980s.
He fled Britain for his native Northern Cyprus in May 1993 but returned voluntarily in August 2010 to clear his name and face trial.
Nadir had admitted taking money from fruits-to-electronics conglomerate Polly Peck, but said he always balanced the books by paying money into other parts of the business.
In 2012 he was convicted at the Old Bailey of plundering millions from the business.
Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir, who fled to a Cyprus bolthole after plundering millions from his business empire, has passed away aged 83
Doctors at privately run Kolan British hospital confirmed that he died at 22.43 local time on Sunday. Nadir is pictured at his Cyprus home
He had been a wealthy man and had an extravagant lifestyle when he stole millions from his business empire.
In 2016, four years into a 10-year sentence, he applied to serve the remainder of his term in Turkey.
But after his transfer there, he was released after one night in jail, permitted to return to his sprawling £3million villa in Northern Cyprus.
His conviction followed a complex trial and 22-year Serious Fraud Office inquiry that is estimated to have cost taxpayers more than £20million.
One retired police officer involved in the original inquiry said: ‘People will say he has bought his way to freedom. It was always on the cards.
‘I don’t think he has ever been truly sorry for what he did. His behaviour has disgusted those who have seen first-hand the misery he left behind.’
He was accused of ‘buying his way to freedom’ after handing over £5million to the investors he swindled, and £2million to the legal aid agency, in return for a transfer to prison in Turkey.
He was greeted at Ercan airport by the state’s deputy prime minister Serdar Denktash, who told reporters later: ‘I saw the joy in his eyes. He will surely become useful for the island once again.’
The Mediterranean island’s English language newspaper Cyprus Today – which Nadir owns – announced his return with the headline ‘Free at Last!’.
His sister Bilge Nevzat, the paper’s managing editor, was quoted as saying: ‘We are so happy that he has been released.
Born in Lefke, Cyprus, in 1941, Mr Nadir sold newspapers on the streets aged six before moving to London with his family
‘The first thing the police said to him when he got to Turkey was, ‘Mr Nadir, welcome to your homeland’.
‘It was very important for my brother to return to his country. We have been fighting for it for years.’
His release provoked anger among some of the tens of thousands of investors he cheated in 1990.
Born in Lefke, Cyprus, in 1941, Mr Nadir sold newspapers on the streets aged six before moving to London with his family.
In the 1970s, the Turkish Cypriot administration invited him to take over crop export plants on fertile orchards seized from displaced Greek Cypriots.
A charismatic figure, Nadir had an interest in real estate and sold his Kibris media group in 2022.
He was also a major donor to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives and became a frequent visitor to Downing Street.