A 32-YEAR-old Lebanese man was yesterday remanded in custody for six days, suspected of attempting to swindle $69,000 and circulating a forged document.
Antonio Ibrahim was arrested yesterday outside his house, minutes before leaving for Larnaca airport.
When confronted by police officers, Ibrahim allegedly said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But, according to the police investigator, Ibrahim, who arrived on the island last in November, met compatriot Antoine Srour, who is a permanent resident of Cyprus.
Srour, the owner of an offshore company, agreed to employ the suspect on a trial basis in the marketing department of his business.
Four days later, on January 19, Srour sacked Ibrahim, telling him he was not suitable for the job.
But two days ago, the suspect allegedly sent a fax to the bank where Srour kept his company’s account, ordering the transfer of $69,000 into his own account, which he had opened with the same branch.
The order carried a security code necessary for such transactions.
But the code changes daily, and the employee who checked it found it did not match the current one.
The employee called to confirm the transaction, but an astonished Srour informed him he had not issued such an order.
Srour notified the police, who moved quickly and arrested Ibrahim.
A subsequent search of the suspect’s luggage and flat allegedly found, among others, a fax machine, two company stamps, and a prototype of the forged document.
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.
