The 37-year-old Greek Cypriot, known to the authorities, extorted advance payments—and in some cases the entire amount—from unsuspecting citizens with the aim of importing vehicles for them from abroad. The case involving theft, fraud, and money laundering had been under investigation by the authorities for some time. The suspect was wanted and was arrested in England, where an extradition order was issued to Cyprus yesterday, and he appeared in court this morning.
According to the police, he is under investigation for 20 cases committed between 2022 and 2023 in Limassol and Nicosia, where the suspect allegedly stole cash and vehicles with a total value of 827,400 euros.
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The 37-year-old was brought before the Limassol Court this morning, without legal representation, and was remanded in custody for eight days.
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The 37-year-old posed as an importer of cars from abroad and extorted money from citizens interested in buying a car without actually importing them.
The 37-year-old is known to the authorities and had previously been investigated by the Cyprus Anti-Narcotics Agency (YKAN), as he was one of the defendants in the high-profile case involving 645 kilograms of (MDMA) that were smuggled from Cyprus to Australia in June 2020, hidden in fish traps.
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The then-32-year-old had pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy, resulting in a four-year prison sentence. At the same time, he joined the witness protection program, as he cooperated with the authorities and was set to testify as a prosecution witness against his 59-year-old co-defendant, who subsequently pleaded guilty.
Watch Erika Kavazi’s report:
