Ex-Polly Peck CEO Ordered to Pay $8 Million for Theft Conviction

Asil Nadir, the former Polly Peck International Plc chief executive officer, was ordered to pay 5 million pounds ($8 million) to compensate victims after he was found guilty of stealing from the company.

Nadir, who built Polly Peck from a textile company in London’s East End to a FTSE 100 firm, must pay within two years or he will face another 72 months in prison, Judge Timothy Holroyde ruled today, according to David Jones, a spokesman for the Serious Fraud Office, which prosecuted the case.

Nadir fled the U.K. in 1993 for Northern Cyprus to avoid trial after the company collapsed and returned 17 years later to face the charges. He was found guilty by a London jury in August of stealing nearly 29 million pounds from the company and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In sentencing Nadir, Holroyde called him “a wealthy man who stole out of pure greed.”

Nadir’s lawyer, Giles Bark-Jones, didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment about today’s ruling.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.