Limassol District Court has ordered the five-day remand of a 44-year-old convict held at Central Prison, as investigators link the arson of a Germasogeia betting shop to a wider pattern of threats, extortion and further arsons targeting businessmen in Limassol.
The court approved a CID Limassol request to remand the suspect, who was arrested yesterday, to facilitate the ongoing investigation. A second person connected to the case remains at large, and police hold an arrest warrant for that individual.
The investigation expanded after the earlier arrest of two 20-year-old suspects, now in custody. As Phileleftheros reported, one of the two admitted his role in the betting shop arson and identified both his co-accused and the 44-year-old convict as the person who directed operations from inside Central Prison.
According to that statement, the convict sent the two men the locations of their targets and promised them €1,000 if they completed the attacks. The two carried out the betting shop arson but did not proceed with a second planned attack on a luxury car lot, as one of them got scared.
Investigators are now linking the case to five further serious incidents recorded in recent months, involving a 40-year-old businessman, a 58-year-old and his two sons aged 34 and 23, and a 54-year-old businessman active in the investment sector.
The alleged motive, according to evidence presented before Limassol District Court, appears to be financial disputes connected to business dealings the wanted individual allegedly had with the complainants, alongside financial demands reportedly reaching €300,000.
The linked incidents under investigation include a Molotov cocktail thrown at a car sales office in Agios Tychonas on February 23, 2026, the arson of luxury vehicles worth over €160,000 on March 4, 2026, and a series of threatening messages sent via WhatsApp and Telegram to both the 54-year-old company owner and the 40-year-old betting shop owner.
Police also hold messages in which the complainants allege they were each demanded sums of €100,000 and €200,000, with threats issued if payment was not made.
A search of Central Prison carried out two days ago yielded a significant find: a mobile phone seized from Wing 2B, in a specific cell, in the presence of the 44-year-old suspect.
Police say the phone contained photographs of premises allegedly targeted in the attacks, including the luxury vehicle sales site, area mapping data, and communications and messages sent in March that are alleged to relate to the criminal acts under investigation.
The CID Limassol investigation remains fully under way. Dozens of further witness statements are expected, telecommunications data will be analysed, and scientific examination of seized evidence is to be conducted.
A scene reconstruction by one of the three arrested suspects is also anticipated, and investigators are continuing to search for CCTV footage from areas where the arson suspects are believed to have moved.