Cyprus’s Anti-Corruption Authority delivered its nearly 3,000-page Mafia State report to the Attorney General and the Tax Commissioner on Monday morning, setting in motion the next phase of the island’s largest corruption investigation.
The report — stored across four archival boxes — arrived at the Law Office of the Republic shortly before 11:00, along with evidentiary material transmitted digitally via portable storage device. The original documents remain in a secure evidence room at the Authority’s premises.
Around the same time, Tax Commissioner Sotiris Markides received a copy of the report without the evidentiary material, which the Authority said was not needed for the purposes of the tax audit he will conduct.
Seven officials face criminal and tax scrutiny
The tax audit will examine financial data relating to seven officials whom the Authority’s report recommends be considered for criminal prosecution. They are former President Nikos Anastasiades, former Deputy Attorney General Rikkos Erotokritou, Haris Solomonides, Nicos Kouyialis, Giorgos Varnava, Eva Rossidou-Papakyriacou and Ioannis Sotiriades.
The Authority found reasonable suspicion that Anastasiades committed seven potential corruption-related offences, including one felony count of abuse of power, according to findings published on June 16. Anastasiades has denied all wrongdoing.
Background
The investigation was launched as a self-initiated probe in late 2022, following the publication of Mafia State, a book by investigative journalist and former presidential aide to Anastasiades, Makarios Drousiotis that portrays Cyprus as a systemically corrupt state and levels allegations against Anastasiades and other senior officials. Four inspecting officers — led by Australian international law specialist Gabrielle McIntyre alongside Cypriot lawyers Harilaos Chrysanthou, Orestis Nikitas and Andreas Efthymiou — heard testimony from around 150 witnesses across approximately 200 sessions.
The Authority has stressed that its findings rest on the civil standard of balance of probabilities rather than the criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt, and that the presumption of innocence applies to all named individuals, with only the courts empowered to determine guilt.
The question of whether Attorney General Giorgos Savvides and Deputy Attorney General Savvas Angelides should be recused from overseeing the criminal proceedings has been raised by both Anastasiades and Drousiotis’s lawyer, Leto Cariolou.
@en.philenews Former President Nicos Anastasiades is at the centre of findings released by Cyprus’ anti-corruption watchdog. The report examines the Focus Maritime case and several other matters, but no court has ruled on the allegations. Will the findings lead to prosecutions, or will the case go no further? #cyprusnews #breakingnews #corruption #politics ♬ original sound – en.philenews
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