ANTONIS FANIEROS was remanded in custody for eight days yesterday on suspicion of forgery involving tens of thousands of Louise Cruise Line and Bank of Cyprus shares.
Larnaca district court remanded club owner Fanieros, 55, and 32-year-old waiter George Stylianou, also known as `Arapoui’, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit crime, forgery, drawing up and distributing forged cheques, obtaining money under false pretences and covering up a felony.
Investigating officer Christoforos Mavromatis told the court that 34,750 Louise shares belonging to businessman George Alexandrou had somehow found their way into the hands of a third party, who then sold them to a Nicosia stockbroking firm, making off with £143,000.
The court heard how the unnamed third party had twice this month convinced an employee at the Severis and Athienitis brokerage that he was in fact Alexandrou, the legal owner of the shares.
In the first case, the employee received 8,000 Bank of Cyprus shares in exchange for a post-dated cheque for £73,000.
The second case saw the same employee paying out £70,000 for 26,750 Louise Cruise Line shares.
Mavromatis said the alleged scam came to light when Alexandrou received notification that his shares had been sold.
He immediately contacted the authorities to report that he had not given permission for the shares to be sold.
The investigating officer added that an eye-witness had testified to seeing Fanieros, Stylianou and a third man exchanging the £73,000 brokerage cheque for two other cheques written out to a certain Antonis Hambis.
The court heard another witness had told police that Fanieros and a man claiming to be Alexandrou had shortly after asked him to give them two cheques for £50,000 and £20,000 in exchange for the £70,000 brokerage cheque.
All four cheques were cashed in various Larnaca banks, the investigating officer said, and were now in the hands of police as evidence.
When Fanieros was arrested on Thursday, he reportedly told police: "I have no idea, I don’t forge things." Mavromatis added that police had found £35,000 hidden in the tyre of his car.
Stylianou was arrested yesterday morning. Police are still searching for a third suspect.
