Salesman remanded as share scam suspect

By George Psyllides

A MAN was remanded in custody yesterday accused of trying to sell non-existent shares to gullible would-be investors.

Leontios Michael, a 33-year-old computer salesman from Kaimakli in Nicosia, was arrested when he allegedly tried to sell shares to an undercover police officer.

Michael, who is accused of posing as a representative of the Lefkaritis and Petrolina group of companies, accepted £25,000 from the police officer for the shares, Nicosia court was told.

Lefkaritis and Petrolina have denied any involvement, saying the suspect did not act on their behalf.

Police told the court Michael had been peddling bogus shares since August, defrauding investors of thousands of pounds.

The suspect, police said, held meetings with potential clients at a luxury hotel in Nicosia, posing as a representative of companies preparing to go public on the stock market.

He allegedly promised clients private placements in the offering of shares in new listed companies.

Prices on the stock exchange have risen by more than 700 per cent since the beginning of the year, luring almost half the population into the lucrative market.

The authorities have warned the public to be on the look-out for individuals who might seek to take advantage of the situation.

Michael was remanded in custody for eight days.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.