Authorities are on the tracks of a massive money laundering scheme in Cyprus, led by a 31 year old Ukrainian, who staged the theft of almost half a million euro in cash on Friday noon outside a coastal cafeteria in Yermasoyia.
The woman’s plan completely backfired and following evidence and her own ambivalent testimony, she was arrested hours later on charges of participating in a criminal organisation, participating in committing crimes and conspiracy to commit a felony and money laundering to the tune of 6 million euro in just six months.
Authorities are now looking for a number of accomplices. According to reliable Phileleftheros sources, the Ukrainian woman, who was remanded in custody for five days, staged the robbery with other individuals as a cover up to the person who gave her the money.
According to the same sources, the suspect is not cooperating with investigators, claiming that she was going to hand the money over to a friend in Cyprus, without however providing more details. Evidence suggest that the 31 year old repeatedly travelled to Cyprus between August 2023 and March 2024 as a tourist, declaring the transfer of large amounts of cash during her arrival at the Larnaca and Paphos airports, including the 420 thousand in her possession on Friday.
The headquarters CID are looking into possible accomplices both in Cyprus and abroad, with Europol and Interpol also getting involved in the process. A number of people will be called in to testify and authorities will seek bank account disclosure warrants, as well as investigating the financial activities of the Ukrainian over the past six months.
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