Filenews 17 January 2023 - by Fanis Makridis
An unprecedented decision for the judicial annals of Cyprus not only from a legal point of view, but also because of the particular circumstances in relation to the case at issue. Five people who had been arrested on our island and detained for about 20 months as part of a request by the US authorities for extradition to the US, were released by a Supreme Court decision last Thursday.
Judge Haris Malachtos (first instance), with a verdict of 38 pages, overturned the decision of the Paphos District Court (26/10/2022) to extradite these five persons to the USA.
The Supreme Court, examining the legal arguments of the lawyer of the aforementioned, Iraklis Kyriakides (Iraklis N. Kyriakides LLC), approved their request for a privileged warrant to be issued Habeas Corpus declaring their detention illegal. So, instead of being sent back to prison until extradition to the US, they were immediately released.
As it follows from Mr. Malachtos' decision, he accepted the main legal argument of the applicants, concluding that the witness material on the basis of which the US authorities requested their extradition was not sufficient.
It should be noted that the five persons had been arrested following a coordinated operation of the ICF Headquarters on 20/5/2021. Those arrested are accused by U.S. law enforcement of participating in a ring that resulted in the embezzlement of 6 million euros from would-be investors. In the frame of the case was also found the name of billionaire businessman George Soros. This is because the circuit allegedly falsely used the name of business entities owned by the well-known multimillionaire, to attract potential investors-victims.
More specifically, regarding the legal part, the lawyer of the aforementioned, Iraklis Kyriakides, among them two Greek Cypriots, raised the following six issues in the context of his request to overturn the decision of the District Court:
>> There was insufficient evidence to lead to the issuance of the applicant.
>> He erroneously accepted the proper issuance/execution of the Authorizations to commence the extradition process, while this had been challenged, in the absence of the necessary testimony to that effect.
>> He accepted and took into account testimony which he was required to exclude under domestic law.
>> He made findings which were not supported by the testimony before him (even by those parts of the testimony which were wrongly taken into account).
>> Wrongly excluded testimony produced by the requested persons.
>> The issuance of the applicant will be, taking into account the circumstances, an unfair and oppressive measure.
The Supreme Court, in examining the grounds raised by the applicants for the Habeas Corpus extradition, makes extensive reference to the witness material sent by the US authorities, in particular to the e-mail accounts they invoke, holding that the evidence is not such as to satisfy the conditions for the issuance of the five.
He notes, characteristically, in his decision "(...) it is required that, in the factual report supporting the request for extradition, there is a "summary of the testimony of the witnesses and a description of factual and written testimony". In this regard, it was not sufficient to describe the alleged involvement of the Applicants and to assume that the reported email accounts belonged to them or that they were manipulated by them or that they were paid or that they either maintain or handle some of the bank accounts described. (...).
And the article's reservation that "For this purpose it is not necessary to send the affidavits or the testimony of witnesses as such," confirms that it is necessary to make at least reference to the testimony documenting "reasonable grounds to believe that the offense was committed and the person wanted committed it." The testimony linking the Applicants to the email accounts, which would show reasonable grounds to believe that the offences disclosed by the accounts were committed by the Applicants, if any, was not presented, described, nor even reported to exist."
He concludes: "It is the conclusion of the Court that the witness material presented before the Court of First Instance was insufficient and, by object, did not enable the Court of First Instance to satisfy itself that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the offences disclosed had been committed by any of the Applicants."
The Republic has the right to appeal against the decision.
Two Greek Cypriots and the wife of one
A total of 10 people are wanted in the international case. Among them are the five who were arrested in Cyprus and released by last Thursday's decision.
These five include two brothers, of Greek Cypriot origin (they also have an English passport), 64 and 60 years old, respectively, as well as the former's 41-year-old wife, an Irish national. The other two persons are a 52-year-old and a 26-year-old, both holders of a UK passport.
Four of the five were in custody from 20/05/2021 until last Thursday's decision. The 41-year-old had been detained following the decision of the Paphos District Court (26/10/2022).
According to a press release by the US Department of Justice on 26/10/2021, a case has been registered against the 10 persons in a court in the Southern District of New York.
They face charges for offenses committed between 2015 and 2021 involving (1) conspiracy to commit online fraud, (2) money laundering, and (3) use and exploitation of a person's information for an unlawful purpose.
Based on what the US authorities accuse them of, they engaged in a sophisticated investment fraud scheme designed to defraud English-speaking investors from around the world, launder the proceeds of the fraud and distribute it among themselves. They appropriated a total of six million euros. They allegedly posed as employees of successful financial investment companies and impersonated real financial investment companies, created fake websites and email addresses, and fraudulently published news articles. With these tactics and through phone calls and e-mails made from Cyprus, Spain, Romania and Cambodia, the conspirators persuaded the victims to transfer money to bank accounts under their control, with the victims believing that they made investments in various companies.
The five suspects who had been arrested in Cyprus were allegedly members of the ring and received percentages of the illegal profits. Americans still believe that in 2019 they impersonated executives of a company of the New York private investment fund owned by the notorious billionaire George Soros. The participants in the circuit allegedly used a bank of the occupied territories.
According to a report by the British Mirror, as well as new York court documents, one of the 10 involved in the circuit is 35-year-old Scott Neilson, a former footballer for Grimsby, Luton and Bradford.
The essence
The case is interesting because of the details surrounding it. Beyond that, however, it also has a substantial impact on the status of extradition of wanted persons to the United States. This is the first time a Habeas Corpus warrant has been issued for a request by U.S. law enforcement. In addition, the Supreme Court of Cyprus, based on its relevant decision, sends the message that anyone who is wanted by the US authorities cannot be summarily extradited. According to the verdict of Haris Malachtos, these requests should be accompanied by the appropriate evidence in order to adequately justify the connection of the requested person with the offences under investigation.
