Filenews 2 June 2023
An important development emerges in the investigation of a case of online fraud, committed in 2016, in Paphos, after the arrest of a 38-year-old man by the Spanish authorities. The 38-year-old was extradited to Cyprus yesterday, arrested and detained to facilitate interrogations.
The case was reported to the ICF of Pafos, in December 2016, by a company manager in Paphos. According to the complainant, his company, as part of its operations, had purchased equipment from a Spanish company. After the complainant had contacted the supplier company via email, it was agreed that his company would immediately proceed with the payment of a sum of €18,450 to a specific bank account as a deposit. According to the complainant, on the same day, he received a new email from the supplying company, according to which the payment of the deposit should be made to another bank account.
The complainant proceeded to pay the deposit to the new bank account. However, in a new communication with the supplying company, a few days later, it was found that this company never received the amount of the advance and never sent a message to change the bank account in which the advance should have been deposited.
From the examinations of the Police, it was found that the bank account, to which the amount of the advance payment was paid, does not belong to the supplying company and that the remittance, deposited by the complainant, was received by an unknown person. Also, forensic examinations conducted on the complainant's computer identified malicious software that steals passwords and other data stored on the computer.
The continuation of the examinations, in cooperation with the Spanish authorities, secured testimony against a 38-year-old man, against whom a European arrest warrant was issued in 2019.
The 38-year-old was located in Spain and arrested by the country's police under the European warrant and yesterday handed over to Cypriot authorities. He was transferred to Cyprus and, after being arrested, pursuant to a court warrant, was detained to facilitate interrogations.
The ICF Pafos continues the examinations.
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Police arrested a 34-year-old man yesterday to facilitate investigations into the arrival of a boat in the Famagusta sea area, with a total of 15 people on board.
The boat was intercepted at around 4.30pm. yesterday, in the sea area off Cape Greco, by a vessel of the Port and Maritime Police. It was found that there were 13 men, a woman and a child on board.
The passengers were transported by the L&N Police boat to Paralimni Naval Station.
Tests carried out found that the vessel had set sail off the coast of Syria on the evening of May 30, 2023. According to testimonies obtained the captain of the boat was the 34-year-old, who was arrested and detained to facilitate interrogations.
The rest of the passengers, upon completion of the examinations, were transferred to the Accommodation Center "Pournara".
The Famagusta ICF is investigating the case.
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A total of 51 people were found today by the Police to be staying in a house in Limassol, while 15 of them were found to be staying illegally in the Republic of Cyprus.
According to the Police, as part of a coordinated operation, members of the Aliens and Immigration Service as well as the Limassol Police Authority, searched a house and the exterior of its courtyard, where they found 51 persons of various nationalities.
The examinations revealed that these persons lived in the same two-storey residence, located in the center of Limassol, while 15 of them are illegally located in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and were arrested for a flagrant offence.
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Between 8-15/05/2023, pan-European operations were conducted to combat sexual exploitation. 46 countries took part in the operations, including 26 EU member states. The operations were organised by Austria, with the assistance of EUROPOL, INTERPOL and FRONTEX.
The operations involved 130,000 members of the Law Enforcement Authorities. Inspection and search operations were carried out at 254,000 premises, where a total of 1,426 persons, potential victims of human trafficking, were identified.
In Cyprus, the operations were organized by the Office for Combating Trafficking in Persons, of the Police Headquarters, on a nationwide basis and a total of 50 members of the Police and officers of the Labour Inspection Office participated. 61 people were identified as potential victims, but subsequent tests found no evidence of victimization.
During the inspection and search operations in Cyprus, 15 premises were checked and one person was arrested for a case of profit from prostitution.
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Pafos Live
A young Greek Cypriot was arrested last night by police. When stopped for inspection, it was found that the four-wheeler in which he was driving had been stolen for months.
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In a road collision that happened around 9 last night on Dimokratias Avenue in Paphos, a 21-year-old motorcyclist was seriously injured.
Specifically, at the above time, a car driven by an 18-year-old woman with a 46-year-old as a passenger, under circumstances investigated by the Police, collided with the motorcycle driven by the 21-year-old.
The motorcyclist was seriously injured in the collision and was taken by ambulance to Paphos General Hospital, where he was found to have a fractured skull, femur and arm, and then underwent surgery with his condition considered very serious.
The driver of the car was also taken to hospital and was detained for treatment as a precaution.
Examinations carried out at the scene found that the motorcycle did not have registration plates, while it is being investigated whether the 21-year-old was wearing a protective helmet. Also, further examinations carried out revealed that the 21-year-old does not hold a driving licence for this category of motorcycle, was not covered by a safety certificate, and the motorcycle was declared immobilised.
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