Filenews 18 May 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
Weakness of the Cypriot State in terms of absolute control of private funds and other assets transferred to Cyprus that may be the product of illegal activities.
Travelers with financial standing come and go to Cyprus on private flights, many of them using a separate facility that falls within the area of the old Larnaka airport, where a private company offers services. However, the competent authorities do not seem to have a clear picture of the exact amounts they say these persons are carrying.
This weakness is also recorded in an official position of the Minister of Finance, Makis Keravnos, last Tuesday, on money and other valuables (cash) carried by persons travelling to and from Cyprus.
The minister, in response to a specific parliamentary question about the amounts declared by travellers using private flights, did not give a clear answer.
The question submitted by Famagusta constituency MP Nikos Georgiou at the beginning of last April and answered after more than a month, was as follows: "What is the amount of liquid assets (cash, gold, negotiable securities, prepaid cards) declared to the Department of Customs and Excise during arrivals of passengers using private flights via private jets in the last five years?"
Although the Minister replied to all the other questions by quoting data and tables, he nevertheless stated the following position on the question in question: "The elements of cash declarations submitted by passengers arriving or departing on private flights shall be included in the cash declarations submitted by passengers arriving or departing on passenger flights". In his written reply, Mr Keravnos does not cite any specific reason for this vague answer. And of course it does not give insight into the category of travlelers who use separate facilities of Larnaka airport that are adjacent to the area of the old airport.
It should be noted here that the issue of money laundering has been in the sphere of public debate since the beginning of last March (cases concerning the judiciary and information on the existence of a money laundering ring) and was discussed in Parliament in two sessions. However, despite the lapse of at least three months, the Minister was unable to provide information on the amounts transferred to Cyprus via private flights.
He feared for his life
The issue of controls and security of private flights has been addressed several times by the authorities in the recent past, as the security issues that arise are a hot potato in the hands of the competent authorities. According to information available to "F", a specific person, while acting as a director for a company that operated a facility within the old airport and provides services on private flights, had obtained a license to carry weapons from the Republic of Cyprus, due to risks to which he was exposed by his professional activity. Based on the request of the manager in question, he feared for his life.
In addition, in the middle of the last decade, a police officer responsible for security at Larnaka airport, in a service note, expressed serious concerns about the procedures followed in relation to private flight security measures, stating that he is not in a position to take responsibility for any incident resulting from security gaps.
Private jets and marinas
MP Nikos Georgiou, at meetings of the parliamentary committee on institutions on the issue that had taken place (between March and April), had said that those who attend seminars on anti-money laundering (AML) issues, know that the authorities must take measures regarding cash transported through private flights and luxury sea boats that call at the marinas of Cyprus. He explained that it has been found internationally that travellers using private jets or luxury sea vessels are high-risk persons when it comes to money laundering. He had even announced that he would submit relevant questions to the competent Ministry, which was done.
€160 million in 4 years
It should be noted that the information held by political figures on the issue of checks carried out by the (under the Ministry of Finance) Department of Customs and Excise on travellers is cause for concern. It is indicative that MP and chairman of the parliamentary committee on Institutions, Demetris Demetriou, on March 13 had reported that in a period within four years travellers transported to Cyprus through Larnaka and Pafos airports the exorbitant amount of €160 million in cash. Moreover, at a meeting on April 3, Mr. Demetriou, after questions he asked guests of the Committee on Institutions and findings he made, had concluded that an amount of €91 million transported to Cyprus in the last 15 months (from the beginning of 2023 until today) travellers from abroad are the product of laundering operations and there is currently no official explanation -at least- for how they were invested to "clean up".
It should be noted that at the meeting of the Committee on Institutions on April 3, the Ministry of Finance officially informed that during the last 15 months, approximately €105 million of cash was declared to the Department of Customs and Excise of the country's airports upon arrival.
Customs and Excise findings on cash
In 2019, a total of €1.8 million was identified but in 2022 just €12,654
In contrast to the question concerning private flights, the finance minister gave answers for the other three.
Specifically, MP Nikos Georgiou asked for data for the last five years, namely:
> Cash (money, valuables, etc.) declared to the Department of Customs and Excise upon arrival of passengers from the ports and marinas of Cyprus.
> The amount of cash found after an audit by the Department of Customs and Excise that they failed to declare travellers.
> The amount of accompanied and unaccompanied cash seized or seized as subject to confiscation by the Department of Customs.
The Minister's respective answers reveal the following:
> In 2023, only in two cases were money declared by travellers through marinas. The total amount is €90.878. In ports we had 44 declarations from 2019 to 2014, totalling €1.83 million.
> During arrivals from airports (2019-2024) there were 54 incidents of failure to declare concerning the total amount of €3.3 million. In addition, only one ship's crew member was identified (2019) who had not declared the amount of €109,040.
> In 2019, €1.8 million was identified. unaccompanied (18 cases), €12,720 (6 cases) were detected in 2020 and €12,654 (1 case) were detected in 2022.
INTERVENTION
Unanswered
Official data through replies from the competent Ministry show that the State does not have sufficient mechanisms to have a complete picture in relation to the amounts of money transferred to Cyprus by travellers. Since he cannot diagnose the magnitude of the problem, then he is not able to deal with it. During parliamentary scrutiny, technocrats raised more questions when asked to take a position on anti-money laundering controls. Questions that remain unanswered...
F.M.
