The criminal investigation into suspended Paphos mayor Phedon Phedonos over an alleged rape is approaching its conclusion, after he gave a statement to police.
According to Phileleftheros, investigative statements from a suspect are typically taken at the final stages of a police inquiry, indicating the file is nearly complete. The head of a special investigative team will make a recommendation on whether to prosecute, and the file will then be sent to the Attorney General’s office, where senior Law Office officials will have the final say on whether to proceed with charges.
The investigation remains under a strict veil of secrecy. The special team reports only to the police leadership.
Phedonos has maintained silence on the matter. His lawyer Epaminondas Korakidis declined to comment to Phileleftheros. When Phedonos arrived at Nicosia CID to give his statement, a person accompanying him warned a television crew against filming at the scene.
Planning fees diverted to private contractors, documents show
Separately, a Phileleftheros investigation has uncovered that compensatory planning fees collected from developers in Paphos were channelled directly to private contractors rather than the municipal treasury — a practice that took place during Phedonos’s tenure as mayor.
The scheme involved developers who received planning concessions — such as permission to add extra floors to a building — being directed to pay the required compensatory fees not to the municipality but to other construction companies. The stated justification was that the receiving contractor had undertaken public works within the municipal boundaries.
Documents obtained by Phileleftheros show the practice was systematic. Developers granted planning permits were asked to sign documents presented as their own voluntary choice to pay a named contractor, which would in turn carry out works on behalf of the municipality. In several cases, the money went to contractors who had frequent working relationships with Paphos municipality. Amounts ranged from a few thousand euros to several hundred thousand euros.
One document bears the signature of a senior municipal official and states that a developer acknowledged being informed that a specific construction firm — named in the document as “… Construction Ltd” — had been chosen to carry out maintenance and restoration works on a Turkish Cypriot property in central Paphos. The document states that payment receipts to that firm would constitute sufficient proof of the developer’s obligation being fulfilled.
In another case, a construction company paid a sum of less than €10,000 to another contractor with frequent ties to the municipality. The invoice description referred vaguely to maintenance works on Turkish Cypriot properties.
Phileleftheros sought comment from municipal officials whose signatures appear on the documents. None agreed to respond. They referred the newspaper to acting mayor, Deputy Mayor Angelos Onisifourou, who confirmed the matter was under review. “What I can say is that this issue concerns us,” he said. He added that he had ordered the preparation of financial statements covering the compensatory fees “so that it becomes clear where the money went and under what circumstances.” He declined to elaborate further.
Phileleftheros understands that a meeting between a representative of Paphos municipal council and Auditor General Andreas Papakonstantinou is planned for early next month to define the scope of an Audit Service investigation into the municipality. The investigation is considered a certainty, following a public statement by the Auditor General previously reported by Phileleftheros.
Ministry acts
The financial scandal has already prompted action at national level. On 20 March 2025, Ministry of Interior Director General Ellikos Ilias issued a 14-point circular to all competent authorities on the policy for imposing compensatory measures when planning authorities exercise discretion to permit floor number exceedances. The circular sets out the practices required to ensure transparency and states it is to take immediate effect.
On 16 January 2026, the Minister of Interior issued a ministerial order under the Town and Country Planning Law on the same subject. Published in the official government gazette, the order requires that 50% of any compensatory fee be deposited into the Special Affordable Housing Fund of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (KOAG) for the development of affordable housing, with the remaining 50% going into a dedicated local authority fund for works programmes drawn up by each municipality.
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