Nadir left the UK just after his £3.5 million bail had lapsed, while the detectives who were watching him were off duty to save overtime pay on a bank holiday. He left on a light aircraft to France, where he flew on to Turkish Cyprus, which has no extradition agreement with Britain, and until 26 August 2010 he remained a fugitive in northern Cyprus, which is only recognised by Turkey. Peter Dimond, the pilot who flew him out of Britain, was convicted of aiding a fugitive, but the conviction was quashed once it was determined that the bail had lapsed. In 1996, Mr Nadir's aide Elizabeth Forsyth was convicted of laundering £400,000 stolen from Polly Peck and sentenced to five years. Ten months later, she too was freed by the Appeal Court.