Pafos Live 27 June 2025
In addition to the six and a half thousand items of clothing, accessories and other products, which are believed to be imitations of items of various trade names, were seized by the Police and the Customs Department, following a coordinated search operation carried out yesterday, in shops in the Paphos district.
The search operation took place in six stores in Paphos, between the hours of 11.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m., by the Branch for the Fight against Intellectual Property Theft and Illegal Betting Offences, of the Cybercrime Sub-Directorate, the Police Headquarters, in cooperation with the Customs Department, following information received about the sale of counterfeits.
A total of 6,624 items of clothing, accessories such as hats, bags, wallets, belts, and sunglasses, as well as mobile phone cases, were seized from the six stores. From the preliminary check carried out by the officers of the Customs Department, it was found that the seized products are counterfeits. They were received by the Customs Department, which due to its competence continues the examinations.
Yesterday's research operation was part of a European programme aimed at combating the illicit trafficking of goods infringing intellectual property rights.
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Three of the five serious cases of poaching reported by the hunting service in June were in the Paphos district. On June 17, 2025, a person from a community in the Paphos district was reported, as he was spotted trapping goldfinches (zgartilia), using a network, an electronic device that emits the chirping of wild birds and live claws.
On June 18, 2025, a person from a community in the Limassol district was reported for harassing hares during the night, using a floodlight. On June 19, 2025, a person from a community in the Paphos district was reported for harassing hares during the night, using a floodlight. On June 22, 2025, a person from a community in the Paphos district was reported for hunting pheasants using an air gun in a closed hunting period. On June 24, 2025, a person from a community in the Famagusta district was reported for harassing hares during the night, using a floodlight.
The Service notes that the period we are going through falls within the breeding season of wild fauna and assures that it will continue its controls for the protection of wild fauna during this particularly sensitive period.
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Serious complaints are made by residents in the coastal area of Geroskipou about the action in the evenings of groups of juvenile rioters.
As they complain, relevant complaints have also been made to the police, minors most of the time, driving motorcycles and cars, harass passing pedestrians and mainly workers from third countries.
Rioters cause noise pollution with their vehicles, while violent incidents have even been recorded in the area.
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A seventeen-year-old young man is hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit in serious condition, but out of danger, who was injured during a clash between underage foreigners in Larnaca, last night.
The spokesperson of the Larnaca Police Department, Christodoulos Consolos, said that the Larnaca Tae is investigating, among other things, a case involving conspiracy to commit a felony and acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.
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Pafos Press
In targeted inspections carried out this morning by officers of the Customs Department , two double-cab vehicles were identified as illegally using heating oil instead of diesel .
During the operation, which was carried out in the context of combating the illegal use of subsidized fuel , two drivers were identified who had supplied their vehicles with heating oil - a fuel intended exclusively for domestic use and not for the operation of motor vehicles.
As it was found, the drivers had purchased the fuel in question from stations that sell heating oil for domestic needs, which is at a lower price due to its tax treatment. However, instead of using it for heating, they installed it directly in their vehicles.
The violators were imposed extrajudicial fines of €1,000 and €750 respectively , in accordance with the provisions of customs legislation.
The authorities remind that the use of heating oil to operate vehicles is illegal and is severely punished , as it constitutes tax fraud and undermines healthy competition in the fuel market.
Customs Service controls will continue intensively in the coming period throughout Cyprus.
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Filenews
The 37-year-old woman was arrested in court, for whom a statement was issued yesterday by the Police in which they made public her details and her photo.
According to the Police, search warrants were initially executed yesterday in houses and premises, while a search was also carried out in a barrister's cell by members of the MMAD and the Anti-Terrorist Ulamos. In fact, police sources report that a large amount of money was found in the house of a person.
The case concerning the offences of (1) Conspiracy to commit a felony, (2) Conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, (3) Offences in violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act, (4) Illegal possession of property and (5) Offences in violation of articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering Law, for which it was published yesterday that a 37-year-old woman is wanted.
According to the Police, so far for the same case, the barrister and three other persons have been arrested, while the 37-year-old was also handcuffed when she appeared this morning at the Nicosia courts.
For the same case, another person is wanted.
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After a hearing, the Judge of the Limassol District Court, Theodoros Symeonidis, found the 30-year-old defendant from Ethiopia guilty yesterday, following a complaint of indecent assault and assault causing bodily harm to two young women from Latvia.
The Court, in its ruling, found the defendant guilty of nine charges he faced, setting a new date in early July for speeches on the mitigation of his sentence.
The 30-year-old was facing charges of indecent assault, assault causing actual bodily harm, common assault, assault, reckless and negligent acts. In his multi-page decision, the Judge noted that the Prosecution managed to prove the cumulative coexistence of the offences in question beyond any reasonable doubt. The case was handled by the spokesperson of the Legal Service, Nadia Koliarou.
The two complainants reported to the Police that they were indecently attacked by an unknown man, whom they met on the beach. The victims made the mistake of getting into the vehicle of the accused, ignoring his true intentions.
The complaint was made in the early hours of Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at the Moni Police Station. The two 25-year-olds, from Latvia, reported that around 00:15, while they were in the sea area of Pyrgos, they met an unknown man of African origin. After talking to him, they got into his vehicle and went to a restaurant in Germasogeia, from where they received food. They then expressed the desire to be transferred to their place of residence, but the accused led them to a passage near a nightclub, where he harassed them indecently.
While trying to escape, the 30-year-old attacked them and hit them with his vehicle before leaving the scene, leaving them injured on the ground.
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The criminal case against a well-known lawyer takes a new turn, who is accused of fraud, transfer of real estate, racketeering of thousands of euros, as well as fraud with company shares, with businessmen and investors as victims. The development comes after the suspension of the criminal prosecution of her – now former – co-accused, who is the employee who had certified the disputed documents in the case.
The case has been referred for trial before the Permanent Court of Assize of Limassol and was set for today (26/6). At the beginning of the proceedings, the Attorney General's spokeswoman said that the criminal prosecution of the second defendant is suspended for all the charges he faces, following instructions from the Attorney General. He also pointed out that at a later stage, a notice of addition of a witness is expected to be registered in accordance with Article 111 of the Criminal Code, adding the former accused as a prosecution witness on the indictment.
It is noted that in the previous period, the lawyer of the certifying employee, sent a letter – a request to the Attorney General – recommending the suspension of the criminal prosecution of his client, claiming that he himself was a victim in the case. He stressed that his client is willing to testify as a prosecution witness in the case.
The former defendant, after this development, left the dock and then from the courtroom, while the Court of Assize postponed the proceedings, setting it for a hearing in mid-September.
The accused lawyer faces charges relating to forgery, circulation of a false document, money laundering, fraud in the sale or storage of property, fraudulent transactions, securing goods by false representation and fraud. Regarding the charge of money laundering, this concerns the acquisition and possession of an amount of €450,000, allegedly derived from a generative offense, as well as the concealment of documents for real estate securities.
The first case concerns a complaint for forgery of a power of attorney against the owner of real estate – specifically five apartments worth more than half a million euros – which he had in his possession. It seems that the properties were transferred fraudulently and with forged documents to another person, in order to obtain money. The former defendant was the person who certified the signature of the complainant, on the forged document with which the sale and transfer of the properties took place. It should be noted that all five apartments were transferred to a specific person.
The second case concerns the extortion of an amount of €400,000 from another complainant, as the documents for the transfer of shares of a company were presented as genuine, in order to sell this company.
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An alarming road safety incident occurred on Thursday afternoon in Limassol, when members of the Police spotted a 13-year-old driving a car with his 22-year-old sister and a 9-month-old infant as passengers.
According to the Limassol Traffic Police, the vehicle was stopped on Archbishop Makarios III Avenue, where it was found that the minor was sitting in the driver's seat, while in the passenger seat was his sister, who was holding the infant, a child of their other sister, in her arms.
During the inspection, it was also found that none of the passengers were wearing a seat belt.
The incident was immediately dealt with by the Police, with the vehicle being driven to a police station. The father of the 13-year-old, who is also the owner of the car, was also called there.
As reported by the Police, both the father and the 22-year-old sister were accused in writing of the offenses, while the 13-year-old does not bear criminal responsibility due to his age.
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A case of assault and robbery is being investigated by the Police in Nicosia, following a complaint by a young man of African origin that he was attacked in the early hours of Friday in the area of Agioi Omologites.
According to information, the man was attacked by surprise around 1:40 in the morning while returning home, by a group of 4-5 strangers who had their faces covered, who beat him and stole his mobile phone before fleeing.
The man was taken to the Nicosia hospital as he had abrasions and bruises on his body. His injury is characterized as minor, but he remained in the hospital due to illness.
The case was put under investigation by the Nicosia TAE.
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in-cyprus
Deputy Police Chief Michalis Katsounotos appeared before a disciplinary tribunal on Thursday facing charges of misconduct and breach of duty related to communications with a prison inmate in 2022.
Katsounotos, accompanied by lawyer Modestos Poyiadjis, attended the initial hearing after receiving a summons mid-month, according to informed sources. The disciplinary charges include inappropriate conduct and neglect of duty.
The case centres on events from 2022 when Katsounotos, then head of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (YKAN), allegedly communicated with a Central Prison inmate requesting information about the facility’s director, Anna Aristotelous.
Aristotelous accused Katsounotos of colluding with an inmate to obtain potentially damaging video footage of her and her deputy through communications via messaging platform Telegram. In messages cited by local media, Katsounotos allegedly wrote: “It’s rumoured that Anna will soon move on to another job. Send me them [videos] as soon as possible because I want to do some things before the girls leave the prison.”
Aristotelous filed a complaint with Attorney General Giorgos Savvides on 20 June 2022, leading to the appointment of criminal investigator Achilleas Aimilianidis. The investigation concluded on 15 September 2022.
The Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General concluded that whilst Katsounotos had not committed corruption, the investigator believed he may have committed abuse of power under Article 105 of the Criminal Code and conspiracy under Article 373. Both offences carry maximum penalties of two years imprisonment and/or €2,562 fines.
However, prosecutors determined that public interest would not be served by pursuing criminal charges. The legal service said Katsounotos was “trying to obtain information as part of his job and tried to uncover potential offences carried out by members of the prison service.”
“Neither [investigator] Mr Aimilianidis nor the legal service that studied the evidence, found there was evidence of corruption against Mr Katsounotos, in the sense that he may have tried to gain something out of the situation,” the Attorney General’s office stated.
The decision prompted Aristotelous and her deputy Athena Demetriou to quit their prison posts in December 2022, saying they had been “left with no choice” following the decision not to prosecute.
Assistant Police Chief Giannakis Georgiou conducted the disciplinary investigation that led to Thursday’s charges. At the hearing, Katsounotos’s lawyer requested time to study the charges and related evidence.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis told OMEGA television that developments regarding potential criminal charges against Katsounotos were expected within days, though he could not provide specific dates.
The disciplinary proceedings coincide with a separate investigation involving Aristotelous, who was placed on administrative leave Wednesday following a Cabinet decision. Aristotelous and Demetriou were questioned on 16 June about classified documents found at a senior prison guard’s residence during an unrelated corruption investigation involving some 300,000 pages of material including architectural schematics and inmate dossiers.
Katsounotos was appointed as one of three assistant police chiefs in February 2025, despite previous controversies including refusing to cooperate with anti-corruption investigators.
Retired police commander Savvas Christou revealed he had testified in the investigation, stating that personal letters he had sent to the police chief and justice minister were among documents found at the guard’s home.
Aristotelous has denied wrongdoing, claiming investigators sought to pressure her. She told media that whilst 300,000 documents were reportedly found, investigators questioned her about far fewer.
Deputy Government Spokesman Υiannis Antoniou said the Cabinet based its decision on facts rather than media reports, emphasising that no one is above the law whilst respecting Aristotelous’s right to defend herself.
