Four out of the six Russian billionaires implicated in the “Cyprus Confidential” case are already under investigation by the police following complaints filed with the Legal Service.
The case of oligarch Alexei Mordashov is one of the four involving Russians that are currently in the final stages of investigation.
According to information from Phileleftheros (anonymized source) citing police sources, it is possible that the investigation into this case may be completed in approximately a month, and the case file will be handed over to the Legal Service.
In accordance with the same information, a special team of investigators dedicated exclusively to cases involving violations of sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the EU on Russian oligarchs has been established within the Police’s Economic Crime Investigation Office.
This team initially started with two investigators, then increased to four due to the growing number of cases, expanded to eight, and now stands at twelve investigators.
There were discussions about appointing additional prosecutors and investigators to assist the police in their work, but it appears that such a move has not been approved.
In total, 30 cases involving sanctions violations are being investigated, and decisions on whether the first two cases will be brought to court are expected to be made in a meeting at the Legal Service next week.
As stated by Christos Andreou, the Police spokesperson, five cases out of the total referred for investigation have been completed and handed over to the Legal Service.
Three cases were determined to have no basis and were archived, while the remaining two are still under review.
According to Prosecutor General George Savvides, a meeting with the investigators will take place next week to provide guidance on handling these two cases.
Simultaneously, five other cases, including the Mordashov case, are in the final stages of investigation and will soon be forwarded to the Legal Service.
These cases are considered complex as they involve multiple shell companies used to conceal funds and are challenging to prove in court.
