Filenews 6 March 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
Huge amounts of multi-million dollars are estimated to have been transported through luggage of travellers bound for Cyprus, from 2023 until today. This is highlighted through the case of the 31-year-old Ukrainian woman who imported €420,000 into Cyprus with a handbag, which she reported was stolen from her by an unknown person in Limassol.
These sums, according to information, end up on our island from at least two networks that move money through European Union member states and one of them involves people of Ukrainian origin, as we wrote last Monday. In fact, according to the information obtained by "F" and which cannot be disputed, one route followed for the transfer of these sums of money has as a transit station a central European country.
The Cyprus Police, in the context of efforts to solve the case, is reportedly in contact with authorities of other states and had information from 2023. There is talk of a collective operation by law enforcement authorities in an attempt to identify the "masterminds" and dismantle the rings. In fact, the Cyprus police force was aware of and had been monitoring the case since last year.
The "modus operandi" of criminal groups was well known to the Cypriot authorities and an agreement had even been made between the Cyprus Police and the Department of Customs and Excise to establish a mechanism to obtain information. Specifically, in September 2023, the Police had asked the Department of Customs and Excise to inform them about any traveller leaving or coming to Cyprus and stating that they were carrying an amount of €100,000 or more.
This, after all, is something that the Department of Customs and Excise made clear yesterday through its announcement. "Cash declarations worth €100,000 or more are forwarded to the Police for information and its own actions," the Department of Customs noted.
The contradiction of the 31-year-old
It should be noted that according to the current legislation (on the Control of Cash Entering or Leaving the European Union{...}) any traveller carrying "cash" (cash, gold, negotiable securities, prepaid cards) of equal or greater value of €10,000, is obliged to declare them to the Department of Customs and Excise.
More specifically, the person who transfers the amount upon arrival or departure from Cyprus and declares it, fills in a relevant form in the presence of a customs officer. This declaration shall include both the value and the origin of the amount.
The Department of Customs and Excise kept a record of the declarations, to which the Unit for Combating Cover-Up Offences (MOKAS) also had access, while after the agreement last September, statements related to "cash" worth more than €100,000 were forwarded to the Police.
In the case of the 31-year-old Ukrainian woman, when on Friday began the police investigation of her complaint that she was robbed in Germasogeia of Limassol by taking away the bag she was carrying, in which there were €420,000, it was found that the complainant committed a major contradiction.
Police assessing the statement she had made earlier last Friday when she arrived in Cyprus, found that the 31-year-old had reported to the Department of Customs and Excise that the €420,000 was a loan she had taken out to buy a residential unit in Cyprus. However, she gave a different version to police investigators, saying the amount came from personal savings.
This contradiction gave new dimensions, as it triggered the Police to start examining a case of money laundering involving other persons. That's why the ICF Headquarters came into play, as we wrote last Monday.
We remind you that last Saturday the Nicosia District Court issued a 5-day detention order against the 31-year-old on the basis of a request by the ICF Headquarters investigating a case of participation in a criminal organization, participation and acceptance of crimes, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
As it was established by the initial police examinations, within a period of eight months the 31-year-old was coming to Cyprus through the airports of Larnaka and Paphos (8/2023 – 3/2024) declaring to the employees of the Department of Customs and Excise large amounts, which – according to a police source – amount to six million euros.
Police are looking into the exact dimensions of the case
As "F" is informed yesterday, he gave a statement to investigators of the ICF Headquarters, an officer of the Department of Customs and Excise who deals with keeping a register of travellers' declarations carrying "cash" (the term as referred to in the legislation) of equal or greater value of €10,000. As it is understood, the Police are trying to establish the exact dimensions of the case and to make a correlation between cases of money transfer and persons involved.
Besides, as we wrote last Monday, it is the intention of the investigators to request assistance from MOKAS. Within yesterday, according to information, a relevant démarche was expected from the Police so that the specific unit under the Attorney General could conduct its own investigation through its own mechanisms.
Although MOKAS specializes in possible offences with financial operations that leave traces in the financial system (e.g. bank transfers), it is nevertheless able to request assistance from similar services in other countries, while it has access to international databases.
However, it is a fact that there have been several incidents in recent months that have to do with the transfer of large sums of money. As it became known last January, a 66-year-old Ukrainian was arrested by customs officers in Munich, Germany, when it was found that in his luggage he had €455,000 in bundles of 50 and 20 euro notes. This person had falsely stated that he had an amount of around €300 and was preparing to take a flight to Larnaka airport. Comments had been provoked in police circles and not only, by the crime of last November in occupied Kyrenia. A Russian national had been murdered in a photo studio (strangled) with reports that he had a bag with a very large amount of money. This bag had not been located. In the case, the pseudo-police had arrested a Ukrainian couple and a Russian.
Last June, a 28-year-old man with a Belgian passport was arrested at Paphos airport, as it emerged that he was carrying €161,520 without declaring it.
It should be noted that the organization "Global Initiative against International Organized Crime" in its latest report on the Global Crime Index (2023), presents Cyprus as having made progress in solving crimes related to laundering, however, notes that it should be improved in other areas as well, referring to improved mechanisms concerning "regulations for non-profit organizations, bank correspondence, new technologies", while stressing the need to strengthen the powers of law enforcement authorities, as well as investigative authorities.
