THE PAPHOS co-op scandal rumbled on yesterday, with the government suggesting the man at the heart of the affair, DIKO vice-chairman Nicos Pittokopitis, should resign his post as chairman of the bank.
For his part, Pittokopitis insisted a government-appointed probe committee had blamed the irregularities at the Paphos co-op on his subordinates at the bank. The opposition party heavyweight, who is standing for re-election in the May parliamentary elections, also said it was “up to the electorate” to judge him.
The chairman of the parliamentary watchdog committee, Christos Pourgourides of governing DISY, weighed into the bubbling debate by insisting the probe had found Pittokopitis guilty of “unprecedented” abuse of his position at the co-op.
On Wednesday, the cabinet was handed the findings of the committee appointed to investigate claims that Pittokopitis and other top officials at the Paphos co-op had vastly exceeded their overdraft allowances at their bank. The probe identified only disciplinary, and not criminal, offences, but did suggest that the actions of the co-op members in question constituted an abuse of trust punishable with sacking. The Cabinet decided to let Attorney-general Alecos Markides decide on further action.
Calls for Pittokopitis to resign have been frequent in the wake of the co-op scandal, but the government’s response to Wednesday’s report was notably muted, with Papapetrou focusing on the fact that the committee had found no criminal offences.
But Papapetrou changed his tune yesterday, saying he had been “shocked” that both Pittokopitis and DIKO chief Tassos Papadopoulos had rushed to claim the probe committee had completely cleared Pittokopitis.
“I am truly sorry that the muted tones maintained by the government on this issue have been misinterpreted by some, and especially some guilty parties, who consider that they can now go on the counter-attack,” Papapetrou told his daily briefing. “For anyone who can read, the report uncovers an orgy of irregularities, which, if nothing else, create an issue of sensitivity, and, in particular, political sensitivity for those involved in politics,” he added, pointing the finger at Pittokopitis.
Papapetrou refused to be drawn on whether he was calling on the DIKO man from Paphos and other co-op officials to resign, inviting reporters to draw their “own conclusions”.
DISY man Christos Pourgourides was far less guarded in his attack on Pittokopitis. He said the probe report had unearthed “much and important” new information on the DIKO man’s actions: “Mr Pittokopitis and members of his family mortgaged property for loans at excessively high prices. A property that an independent evaluator valued at £40,000 was mortgaged for £150,000. I do not think Mr Pittokopitis did not know the property was not worth £150,000.
“I conclude that there have been irregularities and improprieties on an unprecedented level. Even if the co-op had been an old shop belonging to Mr Nicos Pittokopitis and his family, they would have kept to the rules more rigidly than they have,” the DISY man charged.
Like Papapetrou, he expressed surprise at the DIKO leader’s response to the findings: “I expected Mr Tassos Papadopoulos to come out and say: ‘Yes, after what has been found, we as DIKO withdraw the Pittokopitis candidacy’.”
But this barrage of criticism from the government and the ruling party did not faze Pittokopitis. He called a news conference in his hometown of Paphos to insist the probe committee had cleared him of all wrongdoing.
He said the investigators had laid the blame for the irregularities at the Paphos co-op squarely at the feet of co-op officers who did not tell the bank’s chairman about “different ways” of calculating breaches of overdrafts.
He also said it was also plain that it was unclear how much leeway on an overdraft a co-op official had: “I refer you to the findings of the report which show clearly that till today the Hellenic co-op bank of Paphos, other co-ops, the office of the commissioner of co-ops and the audit service have differing opinions about the way limits on loans to members are set.”
Would he be taking Papapetrou’s hint and resigning? “Political sensitivity can be shown in many ways and not just by resigning. Mr Pittokopitis has shown his sensitivity in many ways people of Paphos. It is up to them to judge me,” was Pittokopitis’ response.
He also insisted the attacks against him were politically motivated.
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