The annual outing to the cricket is fast becoming something of a CADS tradition. Thanks are due to John Richardson, our copywriter and infamous cricketer, who once again organised a superb lunch in a marquee overlooking the cricket, where members watched the Dutch team taking on Gloucestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 over match. CADS were treated to free entry to the match, in addition to lunch and drinks. The sun shone, and Mike Carn stood in for your chairman, who was absent in Russia; a good time was had by all.
If the good weather holds, we intend to have an informal lunch on the Apollo terrace in August. There is no speaker, but we will have some fun and games. And golfers, don’t forget to reserve your place for the CADs golf competition on September 14th. Registration is at 1230, and dinner after the game at 1830.
By the time you read this the jury will have returned its verdict in the Asil Nadir case at the Old Bailey. For those of you who remember the 1980’s, this is the gentleman who allegedly ripped off Polly Peck International, draining 150m GBP of its cash into his private bank accounts in Cyprus and precipitating Polly Peck’s bankruptcy with 550m GBP of debts.
Polly Peck was a major Tory party contributor and Michael Mates, the Tory cabinet minister, was kind enough to provide the private ‘plane in which Nadir fled from England to Northern Cyprus. Mates also gave Asil a parting gift of a gold watch, inscribed with the message ‘don’t let the buggers get you’. This presumably referred to the Serious Fraud squad, who were hot on his heels. Asil has been lying low in Cyprus until recently, when he returned to the UK to ‘clear his name’ at the Old Bailey. His Tory pals have led him to believe it is a slam dunk to fix the case so he can move back to London with his wife Nur, aged 28.
One of his more astonishing claims in court is that all the money was redeposited to the company account in Northern Cyprus, in local currency, by his mother. The prosecution noted that using the highest denomination bank notes available the deposit would weigh 135 tonnes. Mr Nadir is 71.