Pafos Live 14 March 2025
The Nicosia District Court yesterday imposed prison sentences and fines on three persons found guilty in a human trafficking case. They are two men, aged 37 and 32, and a woman, aged 29, who were members of a criminal ring operating to perform marriages of convenience.
According to the evidence, which emerged from the investigation of the case, the ring acted as an intermediary for marriages of convenience between women from Europe and men from Asia.
The members of the ring were investigated for the offences of trafficking in persons, obtaining registration by false representations, forgery, circulation of a false document, aiding illegal entry, transit and stay and conspiracy to commit a felony. The above offences were committed between 2019-2020, in Romania and Cyprus.
For the investigation of the case, which began in October 2020, the Cyprus Police cooperated, under the coordination of EUROPOL, with the police authorities of Germany, the United Kingdom and Romania.
Yesterday, the trial of the case by the Nicosia District Court was completed, with the imposition of a two-year prison sentence on the 37-year-old, a 12-month prison sentence on the 32-year-old and a fine of €4,000 on the 29-year-old.
The investigation of the case was undertaken by the Anti-Trafficking Office of the Anti-Crime Department of the Police Headquarters.
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A quantity of cannabis over two kilos was found and confiscated yesterday afternoon in Nicosia, members of the YKAN. To facilitate the interrogations, a 50-year-old resident of Larnaka was arrested.
After evaluating information, members of the YKAN, at around 7.30 p.m. Yesterday, they stopped for inspection, a car driven by the 50-year-old, on a street in Nicosia. During the search of the car, a quantity of cannabis, gross weight of two kilograms, one nylon package, containing cannabis, gross weight of three grams and a mobile phone were located and seized.
A search of his apartment in Larnaca followed, where a small amount of cannabis was found and seized.
As a result, the 50-year-old was arrested for the offence of illegal possession of drugs and taken into custody. He is expected to appear before the Nicosia District Court later today for a detention order.
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Filenews
With false promises, disarming persuasion and movie scripts, the 33-year-old managed to deceive unsuspecting victims, extorting hundreds of thousands of euros. Posing as an investor with strong connections, he convinced a father and two brothers to give him large sums of money, and did not hesitate to use even fake documents to make his fraud more convincing. The scam began to be exposed when his promises began to crumble! This is a person who had deceived a former Cypriot footballer in the past.
The suspect was brought today before the Limassol District Court, which ordered his detention for a period of 8 days. According to the first complaint, the victim had met the 33-year-old at a café in Limassol, where, during their discussions, the suspect told him that he wants to invest in real estate in Cyprus and that he has an uncle in Africa. who builds skyscrapers and would send him money to move forward. In fact, the suspect showed interest in buying a field of the complainant in Pachna for the creation of a ranch.
His mode of action and the trip to Switzerland
According to the facts of the case, in mid-March 2024, the suspect told the complainant that he needed €15,000 in cash for personal reasons and asked if he could help him. He also told him that he would issue him a check, as she had done last time. The complainant believed him, gave him the €15,000 and got a cheque from a banking institution with a cashout date after one month.
The suspect, however, came back a week later and asked the complainant for another €5,500, under the pretext that his baby was sick. The 33-year-old suspect, according to the victim's complaint, showed him on his mobile phone the contracts he had made with his uncle and the amounts of money he had sent him in Switzerland, offering him to go there together to arrange the transfer to a Cypriot bank.
Indeed, the two went to Switzerland where the suspect visited a bank and allegedly received an envelope with various documents, which included his name and the name of his uncle, as perceived by the victim. After returning to Cyprus, the suspect told the complainant that it would take 5-6 days to complete the transfer of the money he had lent him. The suspect then demanded money from the victim again, pretending that he had some criminal cases and fines and needed €15,000 to settle them. The complainant volunteered to help him, telling him that he would make a mobile phone transfer from his bank account.
On the same day, the 33-year-old met with the complainant and then told him not to deposit the cheques he had given him because he had some issues with the banks.
In May 2024, the suspect called the complainant asking to meet, which they did. The 33-year-old showed him that he had deposits amounting to around €2.5 million and reassured him, telling him not to worry as he would get his money back. The following month, the 33-year-old met the complainant again and informed him that he had an affair with a former Cypriot footballer and had to pay the sum of €60,000 to close the case and open his bank accounts.
Then, according to police complaints, he again asked for the victim's help, with the latter informing his father to help. After a few days, this person collected the sum of €60,000 and, after meeting with the suspect, gave it to him. During the meeting, the 33-year-old handed the complainant's father six cheques of €10,000 each.
The 33-year-old's action, however, didn't stop there. A few days later, he called the complainant's father and asked him for another €50,000, under the pretext that he had to cover the costs of a lawyer's lawsuit. He even convinced him that if he didn't pay, his money would be frozen in the banks. The second victim was convinced and borrowed money from a friend and gave it to the 33-year-old.
The suspect didn't stop there. Finding that the victims believed his claims, he returned a month later, specifically in July 2024, asking for another €3,500, which he received via wire transfer. In August 2024, the 33-year-old contacted the complainant's brother and asked him for €40,000, claiming that otherwise he would not have been able to repay his relatives. The complainant's brother gave him the money.
Fake powers of attorney for land purchase
In addition to the above, the 33-year-old is involved in a second case, concerning a piece of land in Limassol. The suspect posed as his mother's attorney to a 30-year-old complainant, telling him he was managing the estate of a deceased woman. The suspect also convinced the victim that he had a special and general power of attorney and persuaded him to buy the plot for €70,000, receiving a deposit of €10,000 in two instalments.
After his arrest, the suspect admitted that he had issued cheques in excess of €200,000 without return. He also claimed that part of the money he received was used to pay rent and office equipment.
In the second case, involving the piece of land, he claimed that he was deceived by a person who introduced himself as a court officer and gave him €4,000 in cash for a court order.
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in-cyprus
A senior official at the Game and Fauna Service has been accused of misconduct in handling poaching incidents, according to allegations contained in a letter sent to the Interior Minister, but an investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.
According to documents seen by Fileleftheros, a long-serving employee of the Game and Fauna Service submitted formal accusations against his superior in December, detailing incidents when the superior allegedly acted improperly in handling poaching cases.
The allegations were sent to Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou and were recently brought to the attention of a high-ranking government official.
The Interior Ministry and the accused supervisor both told Fileleftheros the allegations were thoroughly investigated in a timely manner, with no evidence of misconduct discovered. Rather, the investigation found evidence contradicting the allegations.
In the written complaint, the employee detailed three specific poaching incidents where his superior allegedly acted inappropriately.
In the first incident on December 1, the complainant claims his team stopped an individual near Lythrodontas who had a hunting rifle and ammunition in his vehicle but appeared not to have renewed his hunting licence for 2024-25. The letter alleges the superior instructed by telephone not to report the hunter, claiming there was a problem with the service’s platform.
A second incident on December 4 between Astromeritis and Potami villages involved allegations that a game warden headbutted a hunter during an inspection. The complainant claims he personally informed his superior, who allegedly dismissed the matter.
In a third case on December 11, after two individuals were arrested for poaching near Mammari-Deneia, one allegedly stated that the superior, whom he knew, had instructed staff to issue only one fine of €3,000 instead of two.
The complainant additionally claims that instead of recognising his service since 1996, his superior removed him from his team leader position and reassigned him as a workplace safety officer, describing this as “clearly vindictive.”
The Interior Ministry told Fileleftheros its investigation found evidence contradicting these claims. In the case of the hunter allegedly lacking a licence, ministry officials said records showed the hunter had paid for his licence well in advance, but it hadn’t appeared in the system due to an electronic banking payment issue.
Regarding the alleged assault, the ministry stated no medical certificate was filed, noting that such complaints typically result in police reports and medical documentation, none of which occurred in this case.
The accused superior, when contacted by Fileleftheros, confirmed an independent investigation was conducted by the ministry and found no evidence of wrongdoing. He declined further comment.
