A government minister, Michael Mates, resigned in 1993 following persistent press coverage of his close links to Asil Nadir which had led to Mates writing to the attorney general questioning the handling of the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. Asil Nadir has persistently claimed that the charges that he stole more than £30m from the company are "baseless" and has claimed that the SFO abused its powers, making a fair trial impossible. In 2002 the accounting disciplinary body, the Joint Disciplinary Tribunal, fined Stoy Hayward £75,000 for its role as group auditor to Polly Peck. Erdal & Co, the north Cypriot accounting firm was also fined for its audit of the north Cypriot subsidiaries of Polly Peck in 1988 and 1999. In July 2010 it was reported that Asil Nadir intended to seek bail to return to the United Kingdom to face the 66 counts of theft.