The President of the Republic received a complaint against the heads of the Law Office, George Savvides and Savvas Angelides, respectively, for their involvement in a case allegedly involving the embezzlement of 113.4 million dollars.
The experienced lawyer, Efstathios Efstathiou, in a letter last Friday to the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, which was also forwarded to the Presidency with a supplementary note, details how a complaint was handled against a 60-year-old well-known Russian billionaire and accuses officials of the Legal Service of acts of corruption.
At the same time, he speaks of possible malfeasance on the part of the two top officials of the Attorney General’s Office since they approved actions involving their subordinates. Police investigators are also mentioned in his criticism.
The accusations levelled against the aforementioned individuals by Mr. Efstathiou concern the cancellation of the arrest warrant of the said Russian investor, the failure to file criminal charges against him, and finally the recent decision by Savvides and Angelides on January 16 to suspend private criminal prosecution against the accused.
“The suspension of criminal prosecution in the case is the product of corruption by officials of the Legal Service who decided to cover up the offence committed by… (reference to the name of the Russian billionaire), a decision you also adopted and ratified,” he notes, addressing Savvides and Angelides, adding, “The result of this cover-up is that property worth $113,400,000, according to the estimate of the International Estimators’ House Knight Frank, will be enjoyed by the perpetrator of the crime…”
“The suspension of prosecution you have undertaken creates a reasonable suspicion that you did so to serve private interests,” he notes elsewhere.
As confirmed by the Presidency of the Republic, Mr. Efstathiou’s written complaint has been received.
Mr. Efstathiou acts as the lawyer for another Russian businessman.
According to his claims, the accused had agreed with his client on May 16, 2011, to transfer to him substantively an area of 64,091 square meters in a shopping centre in Moscow.
This transaction was supposed to take place through Cypriot companies of interest to the two entrepreneurs. However, according to Mr. Efstathiou, in April 2012, with false representations, the 60-year-old is alleged to have unlawfully acquired 80% of the assets held by the complainant in the shopping center, corresponding to 126,238 square meters.
According to the complainant’s position, the accused, in order to achieve his goal, presented falsified documents to a specific employee of a Cypriot company providing administrative services.
The lawyer’s position is that with this action, the 60-year-old obtained assets worth $113,400,000 to the detriment of his client.
As Efstathios Efstathiou claims, the theft of property was reported to the Police Headquarters in 2016. He adds that “after four years of the accused evading investigation,” a police officer (in 2020) based on the evidence of the case, referred it to the District Court of Nicosia, which issued an arrest warrant against the 60-year-old entrepreneur, which later turned into an international warrant (red notice).
Subsequently, Mr. Efstathiou claims that as soon as the accused was informed of the warrant against him, lawyers from abroad and Cyprus met with police investigators from the Police Headquarters.
The latter, as he reports, addressed competent persons of the Legal Service and “annulled the execution of the warrant.” He makes serious allegations, claiming that “officials of the Legal Service, along with senior investigators, fabricated and falsely presented various groundless charges.”
He also refers to the rationale of the Legal Service that “there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case.” The latter, Mr. Efstathiou rejects, citing documents.
He further states that in dozens of written and oral questions, the heads of the Legal Service never provided sufficient explanations.
Furthermore, the well-known lawyer refers to the private criminal prosecution filed, which was set for hearing.
He then comments on the decision of the Attorney General’s Office to suspend the prosecution on January 16, 2024. Addressing George Savvides and Savvas Angelides, among other things, he notes, “Do you truly believe that you served the public interest by suspending the criminal prosecution, or is there anyone who can believe that the interests of society and the state are served in this way?”
Efstathios Efstathiou, who states that a British court highlights the negative role of the accused, who – according to his claims – manipulated the prosecuting authorities of Russia, diverting them without evidence against his client, also attaches negative reports internationally against the Russian oligarch.
He also links this case to the bad practices followed in Cyprus by Russian entrepreneurs, which, according to his claims, exposed our country.
He further argues that the 60-year-old is connected to individuals who have targeted Cyprus, such as Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov.
The Legal Service, in an official statement conveyed to Phileleftheros yesterday, dismisses what is attributed by Mr. Efstathiou.
It states that the letters from the latter have been adequately responded to and that sufficient explanations have been provided to him.
The full text of the written statement reads:
“With regret, we note that, once again, officials of the Legal Service are the target of unsubstantiated allegations, as some complainants disagree with their decisions.
The complaint by Mr. Efstathiou’s client was submitted in 2016. Since then, it has been the subject of legal proceedings in the Cypriot courts, and ultimately, in June 2021, with a reasoned decision from the Legal Service, Mr. Efstathiou was informed that there is not sufficient evidence to initiate criminal proceedings in Cyprus.
Mr. Efstathiou, among other things, alleged corruption to the Independent Authority against Corruption, claiming that officials of the Legal Service were involved, which the Authority, as far as we understand, dismissed it. Since then, Mr. Efstathiou has been trying to exert pressure, in various ways, to achieve what he believes serves his client.
All of Mr. Efstathiou’s letters have been adequately responded to, and this present one constitutes yet another attempt to exert pressure on the Legal Service to overturn its decision.”
Phileleftheros also contacted the Cypriot lawyer of the accused Russian businessman. He informed us that he would take legal action against those who defame his client and referred us to judicial decisions that vindicate the latter.
