Citizen submits complaint to anti-corruption authority against state officials

A citizen has filed a complaint with the Independent Authority against Corruption accusing state officials of corruption and conflict of interest, Phileleftheros reported on Friday.

The complaint is one of approximately 15 that have been submitted to the newly-formed body responsible to investigate allegations of corruption.

The Authority will examine the following cases to investigate alleged instances of corruption or conflict of interest, Phileleftheros reported citing information:

• Complaint by a citizen through a lawyer regarding cases of corruption by state officials.
• Akel MP Christos Christofides referred to a case of investors who purchased immovable property to acquire Cypriot nationality, within the framework of the Cyprus Investment Programme. Allegedly a relative of President Anastasiades benefited from the transaction.
• Director of Central Prison Anna Aristotelous submitted a complaint regarding an investigation into the use of mobile phones and drugs in the prison. According to Aristotelous, criminal investigators bribed inmates in order to testify.
• A letter from the Auditor General regarding former and current officials who are related to providers of service to investors who requested and received Cypriot passports.

The other cases that will be examined by the Authority have become public already. One of them was extensively reported on by Phileleftheros and refers to a letter from the Auditor’s Office to the Independent Authority against Corruption.

In his letter to the Authority, Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides wrote that law firms related to former or current state officials processed applications for citizenship. These persons are President Nicos Anastasiades, former Justice Minister Emily Yiolites, former Transport Minister Marios Demetriades, Assistance Attorney General Savvas Angelides, and current Labour Minister Kyriacos Kousios.

Responding to the allegations, Kousios told Phileleftheros, that the last citizenship application processed by his office took place long before he was appointed to the government.