The case of former Volunteerism Commissioner Yiannis Yiannaki who faces 18 charges relating to the alleged forgery of his high school and university diplomas starts on Friday before a Nicosia district court.
The disgraced former official has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces which provide up to a three-year-long prison sentence, Philenews also reports.
The alleged forgery of his academic documents had led Yiannaki to resign from his post in 2021 amid a police investigation ordered by the Republic’s Auditor General.
He hit headlines in May 2021 after local media revealed he had been at the centre of a probe triggered by allegations he had forged his high school and university diplomas.
Photographs published in local media of the English translation of Yiannaki’s secondary school diploma showed a mismatch between the grades of several subjects written out in numbers and in letters. This clearly suggested they had been tampered with.
The degree from a US university was also problematic even though both qualifications were in Yiannaki’s files at the Youth Board of Cyprus (Onek) where he was first appointed in 1996. He later secured a permanent job in 2007.
Former President Nicos Anastasiades appointed him Commissioner in May 2013.
