Turks order detention British accountants

THE Turkish authorities have issued an order for the immediate detention of several senior British accountants trying to salvage assets from Polly Peck International, the crashed company of the fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir.

The order was issued after allegations of bribery were made against the accountants by Nadir, in hiding in northern Cyprus.

The unexpected warrant, which has been leaked to the Independent from Turkey, has shocked Polly Peck administrators who believed that the Turks were willing to co-operate with their inquiries into company assets.

It may have diplomatic repercussions. The Foreign Office said: 'We are not aware of it, but if the administrators wish to draw it to our attention, we shall have to look at it.'

A fortnight ago, one of the administrators, Michael Jordan of Coopers & Lybrand, together with his legal adviser were briefly detained in Istanbul following claims of bribery.

The allegations, which originated with Nadir, seemed to centre on an internal Coopers & Lybrand memo which referred to the payment of 'bribes' in the context of a deal to recover one Nadir asset from Istanbul customs. Coopers said that the use of this word was a 'very loose use of language' and that the deal did not go through.

It seems, however, that the Turkish authorities are not convinced. The Istanbul prosecutor, Ahmet Alkani, refused to make any comment yesterday saying it was an 'operational matter'.

The order was issued on Monday and has reportedly been sent to all ports of entry in Turkey. It states that the administrators are 'to be taken immediately to the prosecutor so that defence statements can be taken'. It is not clear whether this is intended as a preliminary to formal arrest.