Police seek fourth suspect in share scam

POLICE are searching for a fourth man suspected of involvement in a massive share scam that netted some £143,000 earlier this year.

Larnaca club owner Antonis Fanieros and his suspected accomplices, Georgios Stylianou and Christos Hartoumbalos, are already in custody in connection with the alleged scam.

Thirty-two-year old Hartoumbalos, from Vryssoules outside Larnaca, was up before Larnaca District court yesterday for a renewal of his remand order.

Case examiner Christoforos Mavromatis, of the police fraud squad, told the court that investigators had in their hands a document that suggested a fourth man had been involved in the scam.

Hartoumbalos, Mavromatis told the court, was the man who impersonated Dherynia businessman Georgios Alexandrou in order to sell over 30,000 of his Bank of Cyprus and Louis Cruise Lines shares. Hartoumbalos got a Nicosia brokerage to sell Alexandrou’s shares for £143,000 the court heard.

The money was then paid into a bank account and later handed to Fanieros, Mavromatis stated.

Hartoumbalos had so far refused to make any statement concerning the case or otherwise cooperate with police, Mavromatis added.

The court renewed Hartoumbalos’ remand order for a further eight days.

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